Konoha Suna Union High
by Celtic Water Spirit
Summary: Semi-AU, ninja high school. Itachi/OC and Sasori/OC. Welcome to a silly story about hotshot Akatsuki gang members caught off guard when they encounter girls that are just as witty and skilled as they are. Find out how they handle it all. Full summary inside. Sequel is "The Akatsuki from KSUH".
1. Only One Day

Summary continued:

Welcome to a silly story about a couple of hotshots caught completely off guard when they encounter a couple girls that are just as witty and skilled in their own way as they are.

Can Itachi handle his own family drama along with all his advanced schoolwork, tutoring his younger brother, and while juggling a girlfriend? The pressure to excel even more is weighing heavily on him, will he break before the year ends?

Will Sasori ever be able to find the inspiration he's looking for to complete his final project that he needs to graduate? It will take some patients, which means waiting, and Sasori hates waiting.

* * *

><p>Konoha-Suna Union High School<p>

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 1: Only One Day

Welcome to Konoha-Suna Union High, the highest ranking High School that teaches all kinds of jutsu from around the world. Students that attend this school work to hone their skills and become top class ninja that will work in a variety of fields after they graduate. This school offers several focuses that students can choose to follow including combat, intelligence, stealth, interrogation, tracking, medical, teaching, leadership and more.

Despite being a school to train shinobi, many other things can happen here as well. They can make both friends and rivals, and they may spark young love or deeply rooted enemies. No matter what happens, these ninja will discover themselves and what they are meant to do when they leave and enter the real world with times of both wars and peace.

Those that do not complete the requirements of the school by the end of their senior year will not graduate and will not advance any further in the ninja world. It is a known fact that one will either pass or fail. While the coursework is considered challenging, sometimes it is not what happens inside the school that will break people. With family or clan pressures and time slipping away, one can realize they have more stress than they can handle. If those students do not say anything about this problem, there can be very little warning before something can be done to prevent drastic circumstances.

The school building itself is three stories high, the first floor is often also called the basement since there are no actual classrooms down there and it's partially in the ground. Since the first floor consists of one long hallway, it's also called the freshmen hallway as it contains the freshmen lockers. There is also the counseling office, faculty room, labs, a publications lab, and a couple multipurpose rooms used by classes and clubs. The student commons is also located on this floor.

The main floor of the building is the second floor, consisting of two main hallways, these two are also called the sophomore and junior halls. The main office is also by the main entrance on this floor. These halls have most of the classrooms and lockers. It's also where the most traffic is during passing times and lunch.

On the third floor is only one long hallway, called the senior hall, and consists of only half a dozen classrooms. It's here on the third floor that two senior girls are sitting in their third period class, the last class of the morning before lunch. The two were sitting on the other end of the classroom from the door so they were by the window. It was foggy outside this time of year in the mornings, sometimes it was a peaceful sight, other times it seemed just as bland and boring as the math room.

"Raven, it's still too early for Calculus…" Suki sighed sleepily as she turned to face her daydreaming friend. Only the first day of the second trimester and they already dreaded the required brain function needed for the midmorning class.

"Yeah," Raven's answer was short, but she agreed completely. Math in the mornings should be a crime, but they always seem to make the students do it. Only once has Raven and Suki ever had a math class in the afternoon. That was two years ago.

They both reached into their book bags to get their textbook and notebook which would also contain their assignments as the term progresses. They still had a couple more minutes until the final bell would ring for class to start and people were still shuffling about the hallways.

As soon as her stuff was on her desk, Suki turned to face her friend in the seat behind her. "Raven, I had such a weird dream last night…" The girls were so focused on their conversation that they paid no attention to the next two guys to step into the classroom.

~~~ Passing Time to 3rd period ~~~

Itachi and Sasori met up at the stairway by the back entrance of the building on the second floor. Itachi just got out of his Advanced Fitness class in the gym and Sasori came from his Advanced Arts, so next up was the math class they shared. The Calculus class at this school seemed to be dominated by the girls. Most of the guys seem to opt for taking other classes, but not these guys, though it was merely because they are quite intelligent and don't find higher level math much of a problem. Since most students decide to stop taking certain classes once they met the required credits in the subject, the higher level was offered in fewer timeslots, meaning that this one class was going to be everyone taking it and it's the only time it's offered.

The guys reached the classroom on the third floor without much of an issue. Not so coincidentally, they took the seats next to the girls by the windows.

Itachi had noticed Suki right away. He had seen her a few times before during the year and he really wanted to get a closer look. All the other times he had seen her, she seemed to disappear or something would be in the way. Well, he wasn't going to miss her this time.

After Itachi took the seat next to the girl in pink, Sasori casually sat in the empty seat behind him and just dropped his bag on the floor in the aisle and propped his elbow on the desk to support his chin on his palm. Sasori could tell that Itachi was up to something, but he didn't care enough to ask what it was about, though he also thought it was none of his business anyway, if Itachi wanted to tell him, he would eventually. Of course, Sasori could usually figure things out on his own, once he cared enough to.

Soon after the final bell rang, Suki turned back in her seat to face the front. As soon as she did, she caught the sight of Itachi next to her. She quickly turned back around and looked at Raven excitedly.

"…What?" Raven blinked when her friend looked like she was going to start giggling because she was excited about something. Raven had been looking out the window as one of the other buildings caught fire again because of the freshman's fire jutsu training, so she didn't even notice Suki's biggest crush ever sitting next to them yet.

"Never mind, I'll tell you at lunch," Suki said as she turned back.

"Okay, you need to remember to do that cause I won't," Raven muttered as she supported her chin in her palm.

"Trust me, I won't forget something like this," Suki whispered with a smile.

"Alright," Raven nodded as her eyes drifted to her open notebook. It was time to get started on today's lesson.

While Suki and Itachi were distracted the entire class period, they still managed to complete the notes, but never met each other's eye. Both Raven and Sasori noticed their friend's odd behavior.

When the bell rang and released them to lunch, Suki practically ran from the room while Raven had to maneuver around people to catch up. Their usual lunch spot was just down the hallway so they dropped off their bags on the bench that was there and quickly enter the girl's bathroom nearby.

"You sure got out of there quickly," Raven mused as she went to the sinks and started washing her hands. It was something she always did before she ate her lunch. Through the mirror, Raven watched Suki pace the area behind her as she fanned herself with her hands.

"Did you SEE that guy sitting next to us!" Suki said almost breathlessly in her excitement.

"Hmm?" Raven thought. "In calculus?" she asked to make sure.

"Yeah!" Suki nodded and was about to say something right before another girl came into the bathroom.

Raven took a paper towel to dry her hands. She remembered seeing a guy with a black ponytail and a black jacket with a red and white fan printed on the back, but she didn't remember the guy's name from roll call. "I think so," Raven answered, "I take you like what you saw?" she smirked teasingly at her friend.

"Oh my gosh, that was the guy I was telling you about before," she said quietly before moving to enter a stall. All year she had been telling Raven about the guy she kept seeing in the hallways.

"Oh?" Raven said, indicating that she understood. She then waited for her friend to finish washing her hands before they left the bathroom together. They sat down on the bench and began eating their lunches that they bring from home. "Are you going to talk to him?" Raven asked.

"I don't know, maybe…" Suki blushed and Raven continued to stare at her until she spoke again. "He's just so dreamy, I might faint!"

Raven chuckled. "Will it help if I'm there for support?"

Suki laughed, "I don't think so."

"Well, I guess you can try it on your own first and we'll see if you faint," Raven said while trying not to laugh.

"What? I can't do that, it'll be SO embarrassing!" Suki squealed and blushed at the thought of even trying to be alone with Itachi and even talk to him. Raven started to laugh softly at her friend's antics, it was funny to her. "Raven! Don't laugh at me," Suki laughed too.

Raven took another bite of her sandwich to focus her mind on eating instead so she doesn't make Suki feel any more embarrassed. When she swallowed she took a long drink from her juice as she idly watched other students walk by carrying their lunches and meeting up with their friends.

"So do you like anyone yet? That red-haired guy sitting next to you earlier was hot too," Suki said, causing Raven to choke and sputter on her drink as she quickly tried to regain her composure and answer her friend's foolish question quickly.

"Nope," she coughed for the last time before continuing, "What guy? Who was hot?"

"Don't tell me you didn't notice again!" Suki pouted. "It's just like freshman year when that guy was proposing marriage to you and you didn't even look his way!"

"Hey, I noticed that guy, but he was crazy, what do you expect a girl do to?" Raven defended.

"But he was SO cute and you didn't notice," Suki repeated. "You know what, when we see that red-haired guy again in class tomorrow, you have to look at him! I think he could totally be your type if you ever want a boyfriend."

Raven sighed, "Fine," she said defeated. It wouldn't hurt to see what the fuss was about. So what if she wasn't checking out the hotness level of every guy that came within eyeshot? She has enough to worry about as it is and romance is just not on her agenda. It would have to take one heck of a guy to change her mind on that.

At the other end of the hallway by the stairway to the back part of the building, Itachi was sitting on the floor with his friends in front of their lockers. Kisame laughed when Itachi said he was going to try to ask out a girl as soon as he figures out how he should talk to her.

"You don't even know how to talk to a girl!" Kisame practically rolled. Kisame has always been the exotic guy for his unique skin color, but even at a school like this, he is accepted being different.

"Of course I do, I've just never talked to her before, how am I supposed to know what she likes?" Itachi glared. Being an Uchiha, he is naturally quite skilled and everyone expects a lot from him, so he kind of became an overachiever among his peers for always doing more and taking the harder courses. Even his friends seemed to be unaware of his lack of love life so far, even though he is almost always busy.

"Why don't you trick one of her friends to tell you if you don't want to ask her directly, yeah?" Deidara suggested. Deidara is the foreign exchange student from Iwagakure, so he's only been here since the beginning of the year. He still a junior, but has many of the same classes as the others because of the foreign exchange requirements.

Meanwhile Hidan was busy stabbing an orange with his pen. He's known for having… issues, and this group seemed to be the only group that could handle him and keep him entertained enough to not cause trouble for the other students like he did at his last school, that being the reason he was transferred here.

Itachi rolled his eyes at the blonde, though he had to admit that he had a point about asking someone else. He looked over at Pain and Konan, the two were always together, and they were the only couple he really knew at school. Konan was helping Pain fix a piercing on his face since apparently one was crooked. Really, the way they were so goth kind of creeped him and others out sometimes, but they were actually cool people and were only attending this school because their old school was being rebuilt due to flooding.

Pain had actually caught part of the conversation so he was able to help. "If you have a class with her, you could easily introduce yourself and she would follow suit," he said then put his arm around his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I think I might do that tomorrow when I see her again," he said. "Where's Sasori?" he asked after a bit.

"I think he might still be waiting in the lunch line," Kisame said.

Deidara winced. "Ooo, you know what that means, when he gets here, he's going to be all pissed off for having to wait for lunch and making us wait on him, yeah." As soon as he finished talking, Hidan threw the mangled orange at the back of Deidara's head, then laughed when it hit him. "Hey, what'd you do that for, yeah?" Deidara shouted at the white-haired teen who just continued to laugh while Deidara glared daggers.

Before anything else could happen, Sasori finally walked between the two and threw his book bag on the ground below his locker angrily and sat down without a word.

"Ha! See, I told you, yeah!" Deidara pointed at the red-head, who glared at the blonde's finger. Deidara immediately retracted his finger before he lost it to the irritable teen.

"Shut up, Deidara," Sasori spat before opening his water bottle, "I don't want to hear it today."

Deidara leaned towards Hidan and whispered, "Talk about a guy who needs a girlfriend, geez, yeah?" That made Hidan laugh outright, but he stopped when everyone else was glaring at them to shut up, which they finally did.

Soon lunch was just about over and Sasori took off to start his free period early. Normally he just goes back to the art room to work on a project. When the bell rang, Itachi grabbed his stuff and left for forth period, which was "Intro to Sensei". The senior students of KS are required to take a term of "Intro to Sensei" before they graduate. In the class, they go down to the junior high and take over a lesson each day for the term. Many of the high school students will do this before their senior year if time and space allows. For Itachi, the class would be pretty easy since he helps his younger brother all time with the same stuff he's going to be teaching for the class.

Itachi went to his classroom on the main floor and sat at the front of the room where the teacher began talking to him before the final bell rang.

"Itachi," the instructor started. "How closely related are you to Sasuke Uchiha?" he asked.

"He's my younger brother," Itachi answered. "Is there a problem?"

"Not at all, I was just going to ask you if you would prefer to have him on your team for the term, I'd understand if you don't too," he explained.

Itachi smirked, "That would be good for us, I've been meaning to help him more lately anyway," Itachi agreed.

"Excellent," the instructor nodded while writing something on his clipboard and walking back to his desk.

When class started, they were informed that they would only be getting their information today and wouldn't meet their teams until tomorrow. Itachi looked at his assignment, which said Team 7, followed by the names and what he was going to be teaching. His eyes settled on his brother's name and he wondered if he should tease Sasuke about it tonight, or surprise him tomorrow. Both seemed like equally amusing ideas.

Two seats behind him Suki also looked at her assignment. She noticed Itachi only seconds after walking into the room after parting with Raven, who goes to the library during her free period. Suki was not looking forward to taking this class without her, but since the students don't get to choose who they work with to teach the lowerclassmen, they might've not ended up working together anyway.

On that thought, she looked at the names of the other upperclassman she would be working with, and her eyes froze on the name, thinking she was hallucinating. After blinking and looking closer, the name read clearly. Itachi Uchiha. Suki just about squealed right there but contained her excitement. She couldn't wait to tell Raven next class period.

The rest of the class was spent daydreaming while looking at Itachi's back and occasionally the teacher as he went over the syllabus and possible teaching methods when they get to work the following day. After what seemed like hours, the bell finally rang and Suki quickly picked up her stuff without putting them in her backpack so she could get out the room as quickly as possible. She wanted to get to Raven before fainting if Itachi got close her since he would have had to walk right by her to leave the classroom if she didn't hurry. Having an academic focus in stealth helps when one wants to temporarily avoid their crush.

Raven was about to enter her next class when Suki came and grabbed her arm to pull her into the gym quicker. Suki panted with her hand over her heart.

"What's up?" Raven asked with a worried expression while also mentally debating the possibility that her friend had gone nuts.

"You know that Intro to Sensei class?" Suki began and Raven nodded and adjusted the shoulder strap on her book bag. "I'm in the same group as HIM!" Suki squealed in a hushed tone as she pointed to the name on the paper.

Raven looked at the name and recognized what happened. "Ah, I see… congrats."

Suki groaned and dropped her head, "I'm gonna die…" she said and placed her hands over her red cheeks. "And I have to talk to him, what if I make it too obvious that I like him?"

"I think a lot of girls have liked him, he might be used to the way girls behaved around him and think it's normal, just be yourself and don't think about it," Raven suggested.

"Easy for you to say, are you sure there isn't anyone you like yet?" Suki frowned.

By this point the bell was about to ring for class to begin and Sasori finally strolled into the gym from his free period. He had to slide pass a couple of blonde-haired girls that he assumed were gossiping to make it over to his friends that were standing in a circle talking about what he assumed were just as trivial topics. He approached them and the bell rang so the instructor started talking.

"Okay seniors, as you know, you can do whatever training you need or want to, because you're all at different levels in different skills, just make sure you sign in on this clipboard and you'll get credit for the class," the instructor quickly stated and placed the clipboard and a pen on the table for everyone to start signing in.

It wasn't long at all before Suki saw that Itachi was in this class too so she decided to make sure that she should continue to keep her distance until she can make sure she can keep her composure around him.

As people signed in, they moved to the locker rooms and then they split off into groups to do whatever they wanted. Naturally there was a group that would sit around and do nothing for the class, but when finals come around and they have nothing to show for their time here, they will most likely be leaving without their diploma.

Raven decided she was going to work on running speed and endurance this week so Suki joined her on the track. They paced each other and occasionally talked. Mostly just Suki admiring Itachi.

The guys went to the weight room. There are no other Physical Education classes during this period so the seniors have access to everything they could need. Itachi and Kisame spotted each other on the bench-press. Deidara and Sasori got some leg weights for the jump ropes, and the rest did other exercises.

When it was almost the end of class and time to clean up, the others looked over at Deidara and Sasori to realize that they hadn't stopped the entire hour and were silently challenging each other as they watched and glared at each other through the corners of their eyes. The guys were silently debating what to do about them when Pain returned.

"Guys, it's time to go," he said calmly and the two stopped without complaint, but threw glares at each other that clearly said that it wasn't over. After they were finished in the locker room, it was time to leave for the last class of the day.

Raven went to class as soon as Suki left to go home. Suki's free period is at the end of the day so she is able to leave early. Soon after Raven took her seat near the door, she saw that Suki's crush and his red-haired friend were in the class too. Seeing him, Raven wondered if he was the red-head that Suki was telling her about. If Suki thought he was good-looking, then that only increases Raven's curiosity so she had to take a look.

He wasn't bad, though she wasn't sure if there was anything really that great about him either. Since she doesn't know anything about him, she knew she could not make any real judgment about him. For now she was just going to find out his name during the roll call. At least then it wouldn't be weird to talk about him later the next time the conversation comes up, even though Raven didn't think she and Suki would be talking about him any time soon anyway.

Raven wondered how Suki would feel about this arrangement since she's not here when her crush is. She just might put this class in her schedule just to have another class with him. Somehow Raven didn't think that would happen even if that would be the result.

The class seemed dreadfully long, but Advanced History and Government would seem long by default. Raven found herself drifting in and out of focus and wondering why such a class was only offered at the end of the day. She blamed it on typical inefficiency, the school should know better than to put such a dull class as the end of the day, especially after their Ninja Training in the previous class.

The teacher was an older bald man that seemed stressed out all the time. The class was pretty small, since not many people could handle this level coursework and some others that can just didn't want to. Raven didn't want to either, but knew she should for the extra credit and benefits later on.

When the roll call was finished, Raven knew both their names and wouldn't forget them since she was going to tell Suki about this on the phone tonight.

Sasori doodled in his notebook while Itachi went back and forth between looking at the syllabus that the teacher was going over and writing everything he needs to do today in his planner. Itachi noticed that Suki wasn't in the class, but her friend was. At first he thought that Suki would come in later and sit by her friend so he purposely took a seat nearby. But she never came, indicating that she doesn't have this class with him. He thought about asking her friend where she was right now, since he might want to catch her after school and talk to her.

When the bell rang, indicating that the class, and the day, was over. Itachi reached for his bag and looked up to see that Raven was already gone. There went his plan of asking her about her friend, but there is still tomorrow. Itachi then looked towards Sasori, who is the only friend he has in the class, only to find that he was already about to leave the classroom too. Itachi caught up at their lockers. Again he only saw Raven for second before she disappeared again, he thought about trying to catch up to her, but got caught up with his friends who were already telling him to go get something to eat with them before they head home.

Sasori declined the suggestion quickly as he closed his locker and adjusted the strap of his book bag so it was positioned on his opposite shoulder.

"Com'on Sasori, live a little, yeah!" Deidara complained when Sasori was already heading for the stairs.

"Maybe another day," he shot back, "I have to go."

"Why?" Deidara called after him but didn't follow. Sasori's only answer was a wave without looking back as he continued walking. Deidara just sighed and looked at Itachi, "You guys had the last class together right? Did he say where he was going?"

"How should I know?" Itachi answered. "He's probably has to help his Grandma with something, that's usually the reason he leaves so early."

"Oh yeah," Deidara laughed at his own forgetfulness in the matter. As soon as the guys were done, they left for some fast food and goofing off.

When Itachi got home a little over an hour later, he was met by his younger brother in the entryway of their house. "Mom was asking me where you were," Sasuke said in a bored manner.

"I was with my friends," Itachi said as he took off his shoes. "Did you finish your chores?" he asked his twelve-year-old brother.

Sasuke looked away and folded his arms. "Of course I did."

"Good, I'll go do mine now," Itachi smiled and poked his brother in the forehead and watched as his brother glared at him and pouted. Itachi could hardly believe that Sasuke still lets him do that.

Later that night, Sasori arrived home with his grandmother. "Thank you for helping again today, Sasori," she told him as they entered the quiet home.

"It's nothing," he said as he started to make his way to his room.

"But you're so young and full of life, wouldn't you rather go out with your friends than spend the day taking care of people in the hospital?" Chiyo said.

"It's fine," he said.

"You're going to be all grown up soon, you should enjoy being young while you can," she said.

Sasori wondered where all this was coming from but simply shrugged. "Sure, Grandmother, if that's what you want."

Chiyo sighed as she watched him go to his room. He was always so serious and focused. Maybe giving him more free time will encourage him to go out and do something. "Sasori! One more thing!" she called.

"Yeah?" he called back from the hallway.

"Do you have a girlfriend yet?" she laughed when she heard the sound of something falling followed by his muffled curses.

"What! Why would you ask me that?" he ran back into the front room with a shocked and slightly disturbed expression.

Chiyo continued to laugh, "Just wondering, I want you to have some fun, but not too much fun!"

"Grandmother!" Sasori's palm met his forehead. Chiyo laughed at him more as he went back to his room, planning on not emerging from it until he has to go to school in the morning so he doesn't have to face his grandmother and that kind of conversation again. He's already had to sit through 'the talk' once with her and his great uncle, and he'd rather not go through anything like it ever again.

Meanwhile, Raven and Suki were on the phone. Suki was complaining about not having that last class with Itachi while at the same time saying that she probably wouldn't be able to handle it since she has to be so close to him in three of her other classes.

"So what did you think about that Sasori?" Suki asked to change the subject to Raven.

"I don't know, fine I guess," she answered.

"Like just fine, or FINE," Suki laughed in the receiver. She could hear Raven sigh and just picture her shaking her head. "Oh come on, Raven! You have to admit he was at least cute."

"Sure," Raven said, "I can't really say much since I don't really know anything about him."

"I know, but I'm asking on looks alone, would he be your type?" Suki pressed.

"I guess so," Raven finally admitted.

"See see, he's cute!" Suki said smiling.

"…Yeah," Raven said making Suki squeal on the other end.

"You should talk to him!" Suki said delighted.

"Whatever, I don't really care about trying to get a boyfriend right now, Suki," Raven reminded.

"Yeah, but would you be willing to go out with someone if they liked you and asked you out?"

"Sure, I'd give it a shot, but the chances of that are unlikely," Raven said.

This time Suki sighed, "But it might happen…"

"Doubt it," Raven said.

"It's gonna happen~" Suki sang.

"Whatever, if it does, it does," Raven said.

"Hehe, I think it will, at least I hope it will," Suki said. "But I should get going now, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright, talk to you later," Raven said and after the last goodbyes they each hung up.

Back at the Uchiha residence, Itachi was getting ready for bed. At one point his thoughts drifted to her and how he hasn't talked to her yet. Then again, it's only been one day of having class together, and there are many more days to come. Surely it will happen soon enough, even if he chokes and can't talk to her tomorrow, there will still be the next day.

Itachi plopped himself on his bed and sighed. Never did he imagine he would be in this situation. He is Itachi Uchiha, he should be a lady's man if anything. Yet here he is, senior year and still has troubles talking to girls he likes. This time it will be different. There is no way she could reject him with his good looks and great reputation.

"Thinking about a girl?" Sasuke's voice came from the door, causing Itachi to jump up into a sitting position. He had to admit, Sasuke was getting good at that.

"What? No!" Itachi lied.

"Whatever, Dad said you have to help him with the roof tomorrow before school," he told his older brother.

"Okay, I'll get up earlier and do that, now go away and close the door," Itachi told him.

"Heh, I knew you were thinking about a girl," Sasuke taunted and closed the door just as a shuriken hit the frame at the same level as his head.

Itachi plopped back down and put his arm over his eyes then moved it to his forehead so he could look out the window. Was it really that obvious?


	2. It's a Guy Thing

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 2: It's a Guy Thing

Tuesday morning found Itachi running to school. After helping his father with the roof of their home, he had very little time to eat and clean up. Sasuke had left for school already and didn't say anything about what time it was to Itachi. The little prick. What happened to the days that the kid worshiped him? Prick.

Still, no time to think about his prick brother, instead he must focus on getting to school on time. He should so count this as his warm up for Advanced Fitness during his first period. He sped through the streets towards KS High and just made it to the gym on time as the final bell rang. Some guys were already leaving the locker room, including Kisame, who stepped back into the locker room as Itachi changed in record time and ran back out to join him for the warm up jog before getting to work.

"You barely made it on time," Kisame said as they pumped some dumbbells in the weight room.

"Yeah, I was helping my dad with something and Sasuke didn't tell me that he was leaving," Itachi explained.

"Were you expecting him to?"

"Yeah, he always says so, but this time he didn't, he's being a prick lately," Itachi said.

"He started middle school this year right?"

"Yeah."

"That's why, he thinks he's all cool now, just be glad he isn't a freshman this year, the freshmen are worse," Kisame stated.

"At this rate, I don't even want to think about what he'll be like when he's fifteen."

"A bigger prick?" Kisame guessed.

"A bigger prick," Itachi confirmed. "Possibly emo too."

Kisame cringed for affect before laughing, "Think he'll be a popular with the ladies anyway?"

"Probably," Itachi sighed. "That whole emo thing seems to be getting popular, lucky for me, dark and mysterious is still cool with the girls."

"No way, they want exotic and confident," Kisame said pointing to himself and laughed. Itachi just laughed too and shook his head.

After first period was Itachi's free period, which was spent studying and reading in the library. Sometimes he will stay in the gym and workout some more, but he knows when he should focus on his academics. Strangely enough, he actually spent most of that "study time" simply daydreaming instead. For some reason that pink ribbon surrounded by shining blonde hair keeps popping into his mind ever since the first time he noticed her. It baffled him that someone he doesn't even know could interest him so much. He had to find out more about her.

He planned to say something to her in math. Just a simple 'hello' should do, right? Should he say something else or should he leave at that for now and play it slow? If he says too much, he might come across weird or too obvious and end up scaring her away. He hated this. It's too complicated for him to handle. That alone irritated him because he was supposed to be a prodigy to his clan, but he still didn't know what to say to a girl he likes.

Without thinking he let his head drop to the table he was sitting at. It made a louder sound then he thought it would in the overly quiet space that is a library. He looked up to see if anyone was watching him and found that this period's library aid was looking at him weird while she was shelving some books. Itachi looked away awkwardly and the girl went back to her task.

When he finally went to his math class on the third floor, he took the same seat he did as yesterday, hoping that she would also sit in the same place. Itachi watched the door a little too closely even for his own comfort as he waited for the familiar hair and pink ribbon to step through the door. He was immensely disappointed when Sasori was next to step through the door.

Sasori noticed the look Itachi gave him. Just like yesterday, he took the seat behind Itachi. "What's with you?" Sasori asked.

"Nothing," Itachi said looking back at his red-headed friend. When he looked back he saw the look of obvious disbelief from Sasori. "Okay, I was expecting someone…" he admitted.

"I know," Sasori said, then looked out the window.

Itachi sighed knowing that it must've sounded pathetic to him, Sasori didn't exactly seem like the kind of person that would understand what having a crush is like. There is the possibility that Sasori just doesn't show it as much for whatever reason, or he really is just that focus on his art that he doesn't do more than glance at anything else if he doesn't need to. Maybe he thinks love is a weakness or something to be ashamed of. Wait, did he think 'love'? Well, it's not _love_, certainly not at this point. Right now it's just been a term-long little crush.

Itachi turned back to face forward in his seat just as Suki came in. He knew he was staring with the look of surprise glued to his features momentarily. He forgot everything he was going to do and say. Crap.

Feeling his eyes on her, she looked over and they made eye contact. Had that ever happened before? He instinctively smiled as if he had known her for years. Itachi didn't even realize that he did it until she smiled back before looking away bashfully as she turned to come down the aisle to her seat right next to him.

After setting down her stuff she looked over at him to find that he was still watching her. "Hi, I'm Suki," she smiled, "I don't think we've ever really met before," she said.

For a moment he forgot how to talk. "Hey, Itachi," he stated coolly and reached to shake her hand. She accepted and smiled.

"And this is my friend Raven," Suki smiled and gestured her friend that came with her and was currently sitting in the seat behind her. Itachi nodded and shook her hand too. Raven didn't say anything as she nodded back.

"And behind me here is Sasori," Itachi said. Sasori simply glanced over and nodded to the girls and redirected his eyes forward again. "How do you like this class?" Itachi asked casually.

"Um, it's good so far, but there hasn't been any tests yet," she laughed and he joined her.

He was about to say something else, but the teacher began the lecture and it was time to take notes in order to be able to do the homework tonight.

Suki looked back at Raven with excitement. She actually talked to Itachi! Raven gave a faint smile and nod of approval. Suki just about giggled with glee over the whole thing, but contained her joy for she didn't want to draw the attention of the entire class to herself.

Itachi picked up his black mechanical pencil when Sasori leaned forward to whisper to him. "Smooth," Sasori said with a trace of a snicker. Itachi just about blushed thinking that maybe he looked like a complete goofball during the whole interaction, but quickly came to the conclusion that Sasori was messing with him and trying to make him feel embarrassed.

At the end of class Itachi didn't get the chance to talk to Suki again as she ran off dragging her friend to lunch.

Today Sasori packed a lunch so he didn't have to wait in the cafeteria line. The guys met up with their friends at the usual spot in front of their lockers to eat. Soon Itachi told Kisame about Suki.

"Are you going to ask her out?" Kisame asked. For some reason this is when all of their other friends decided to start listening and started asking Itachi all sorts of questions.

"Wait, you're going to ask someone out!" Deidara shouted.

"Yay!" Tobi danced.

"Finally…" Sasori groaned.

"He must have talked to her," Pain said.

"And it must have gone well," Konan added.

"Is she hot!" Hidan asked enthusiastically, but pushed Deidara as he tried to move closer, so Deidara pushed him back and they got caught up in a pushing war in the hallway.

"No, no fighting…" Tobi tried, but was ignored.

"I might ask her out, but I'll wait and see how things go after we talk some more," Itachi said to those that were listening.

"That is probably wise," Pain agreed.

"Yeah, what if she turns out to be an airhead or something?" Kisame suggested.

"She couldn't be stupid, she's in the higher level math class with us," Sasori added.

"I DID NOT MAKE OUT WITH MY HAND!" Deidara shouted at Hidan who was laughing his butt off, because now everyone around them was looking at the blonde with disgusted, surprised, and amused looks. Deidara looked around him and then turned bright red. "Damn you Hidan, you got me to yell that on purpose!"

The rest of the group laughed a little too, even though they were trying not to. Deidara and Hidan started to get rough because now Deidara was embarrassed and angry.

"No roughhousing in the halls," Mr. Zetsu, the Ag teacher, said while stopping in front of the teens. The two looked at the teacher, then at each other before huffing and turning away to sit on opposite sides of the hall. With that Mr. Zetsu left.

Everyone was quiet for a minute. "Did you really make out with your hand?" Tobi asked, earning him a smack over the head from Deidara. "Ow…"

"…So… Sasori," Itachi began to end the awkwardness. "What are you doing for your free period today?"

Sasori blinked as he thought about it for a moment, "I was planning on going to the library and trying to find some books that could help me with my art projects.

"Are you sure you don't want my help thinking of something?" Deidara asked.

"Your 'art' is not my style," Sasori reminded.

"Maybe YOUR style needs some adjusting," Deidara defended.

Sasori glared back at the blonde. Itachi just about had it with Deidara fighting with everyone, "Deidara, be quiet," Itachi said. Deidara glared at the Uchiha, but complied.

A sort while later, lunch was over and they parted to go to their next class. Itachi was looking forward to Sasuke's reaction when he finds out that his older brother is going to be his sensei this term. Itachi hopes it's priceless, but knowing Sasuke, he'll probably act like he doesn't care and then throw a tantrum at home.

When Itachi got to class, he sat in the same spot he did the day before and decided to look at his papers to see who his partner was again. He remembered he was assigned to group seven since that is Sasuke's group. For the seniors assigned, right next to his name was 'Suki Yukimura'. Itachi did a double take and wondered if it this was the same Suki he was interested in.

He looked around the classroom to see if she was there. At first he didn't see her, but found her sitting a couple seats behind him. Suki looked up to see him and smiled and waved. He smiled and waved back before picking up his things and moving to the empty seat in front of her.

"Hey," he said. "Are we on the same team?"

"Oh! Um…" she quickly looked down at her own paper before nodding. "Yes, we're on team seven."

"Awesome, I have a feeling we'll work really well together," he said confidently. This talking to a girl thing wasn't so hard after all. For some reason it's much easier to talk to her than it has been in the past with other girls he thought he liked. With Suki it seemed like they've been friends for a while already. He was taking that as a good sign. It's not like he wasn't nervous anymore, he's still worrying about whether or not she could like him back. If not, maybe she will by the Winter Formal dance next month.

"Is this your brother?" Suki asked, bringing him out of his thoughts. He looked down at her paper to see that she was pointing to Sasuke's name.

"That's right," he nodded.

"Does he know about this?"

"Not yet," Itachi smirked, "I want to see if he reacts."

Suki laughed softly. "You seriously didn't tell him?"

"Well I was going to, but then he was being a prick last night so I changed my mind," Itachi said with the same smirk.

"So we have a prick on our team, that's nice," she sighed and he laughed.

"I'm pretty sure he's just a prick towards me," he assured her. "At least I hope he is." They both laughed.

Meanwhile, Sasori stopped in the art room by his usual spot to look at his empty workspace, and then left to go to the library like he had planned. It was always really quiet in there, and unusually warm for a such a place. He was going to let the librarian know that he was going to there for most of his free period, but she was nowhere in sight so he assumed that she was hidden amongst the many shelves of books or stepped out.

Since he didn't know what book he wanted, he thought he'd start by browsing the art section and see if he can't find something that might provide some inspiration. He stepped over to the correct aisle and saw that there was already somebody else there, who was kneeling to place a book on one of the lower shelves.

She looked up immediately, and he recognized her from some of his classes. More notably, she sits in the seat right next to him in their math class. Her name was Raven if he remembered right, and why he even remembers that is unknown to him.

"Can I help you find something?" she asked after she stood upright.

He realized that he had just been standing there, and she must have assumed he was waiting for her to say something. "I'm looking for artistic ideas," he said.

"You're in the right place," she folded her arms and shifted her weight causing her long tied back hair to sway slightly behind her. He only noticed that detail because of his artistic eye, at least he's sure that's why. "You may want to narrow down to what kind of art or otherwise you'll be here for hours," she suggested.

"I've got time," he said, "I'm just going to browse first."

Raven nodded. "If you need any help, I'll be up front," she said and stepped passed him.

"Thanks," he nodded once and began his search.

Itachi and Suki walked down to the middle school together to meet their group. There was the young Uchiha, Naruto, and Sakura. They went out to the field and within five minutes, the twelve-year-olds were arguing with each other.

Itachi and Suki simply watched as they thought about what to do. "Wow Itachi, I thought your brother was going to be more like you, but he isn't that cool at all," Suki commented.

The three heard that comment. Sasuke pouted at being compared to his brother, Naruto pointed and laughed at Sasuke, while Sakura insisted that Sasuke actually is cool and that it's Naruto messing everything up.

"Don't worry about it," Itachi said coolly then looked at his brother. "But I must admit, Sasuke, I thought you would be able to cooperate with your teammates better than this, no matter what kind of people they are." Itachi look over at the still snickering blonde-haired boy, and then the blushing pinkette giving Sasuke the dreamy eyes. Itachi sighed and folded his arms over his chest. Guess it's time for his leadership skills to come into play. "First things first, we're going to work on your teamwork skills," Itachi said. "As ninja, you will be able to communicate and work together effectively with anyone you may be forced to work with."

"How are you going to teach us that, Itachi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"For today, we can do some trust exercises," Itachi instructed. "We'll demonstrate and then you'll try." Itachi turned to Suki and stepped behind her. "So now she will fall back and I will catch her and keep her from falling, anytime you're ready Suki, you can trust me."

Suki nodded and was really glad she wasn't facing them at the moment because she could feel the blush on her cheeks. She took a small breath before falling back. Just like he said, he caught her and then lifted her back to her feet with ease. She noticed how his hands lingered for a moment around her waist.

"Just like that," Itachi said. "So first, Sasuke will catch Sakura."

Sakura smiled and even jumped for joy as Sasuke stepped behind her wordlessly. "Don't worry Sasuke, I'm not heavy at all!" Sakura said before she fell back and Sasuke caught her just as Itachi and Suki demonstrated.

"Good," Itachi said. "Looks like Sakura already has trust in you, now Naruto, you take her place."

"What?" Naruto complained.

"Just do what Itachi-sensei tells you!" Sakura practically screamed at him, then she turned and smiled innocently at the two Uchiha.

Naruto grumbled and stepped in front of Sasuke with his back to him. He stood there for a minute with arms folded and still not falling back. "Hurry up idiot, before I fall asleep and forget that I'm supposed to catch you," Sasuke said.

"Ah, I just can't trust Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

"Alright," Itachi began. "If you can't trust him, you can trust me and my authority in this class. Sasuke will catch you," he said calmly.

Naruto just looked at Itachi like he was the coolest person ever. "Fine," Naruto said and got ready again. "Here it goes," he said before finally falling back. Sasuke did his part and then waited for what was next. After that was Naruto's turn to catch them, and Sakura complained too, but still let him catch her. Then when Sakura's turn catching them was done they turned back to their seniors.

"Feel like you can trust each other a little more?" Itachi asked. "You just proved that you can count on each other to do your part, so you should remember to look out for each other in the future."

Suki smiled at Itachi, he really did seem to know what he was doing and she admired him even more now. He was so mature, calm, and intelligent.

"So now we can do something fun, like a teamwork game," Itachi said. They played ninja style capture the flag for the rest of the period.

Back in the library, Sasori was getting irritated that he wasn't finding anything he thought was useful. He looked down the aisle towards where Raven was supposedly sitting. She did say that he could ask her for help, and since she must be the Library Assistant this period, it is a part of her job to help find books when asked.

Sasori was still debating on whether or not to ask her so he looked back at the shelves of books in front of him. He caught a glimpse of someone to his other side so he looked to find Raven standing there again. How did she get there without him noticing?

"Do you need any help?" she asked.

"Uh… yeah," he finally said.

"What kind of book do you have in mind?" she asked again, as she shifted her eyes to the shelves of books.

"Just something to spark my inspiration," Sasori answered.

"Now I see why you're having a hard time, something like that is hard to find and can't be found in just any book," she said turning back to him. "For just inspiration, you'd probably be better off looking through all the books in this section."

"I was kind of hoping for a magic book with all the answers to suddenly appear on the shelf where I was looking," Sasori smirked.

Raven laughed softly, "Yeah, things never seem to work out that easily."

"I still had to try, don't want to work more than I had to and end up wasting time," he said.

"And wasting time is the worst," Raven agreed. "But it's almost the end of this class, I'm sorry I couldn't help you, if you come back tomorrow I might have some books by then that may help," she suggested.

"Sure," Sasori said just as the bell rang.

They both moved to the front of the library where their book bags were and picked up their own. Then they both headed to their next class. At first Sasori thought she was following him, but quickly realized that they just have the same class together. She happened to be standing behind him in the line to sign in, so Sasori stole a glace to see if she was watching him. She wasn't, in fact, she was looking towards the main doorway. He followed her line of sight and saw Itachi and Suki enter the gym.

Suki waved to Raven and ran up to her, whispering something with a smile. Sasori couldn't hear what it was, but saw Raven nod right before Suki moved to the end of the line. He gave Itachi a curious look when Itachi looked his way, but the Uchiha just shrugged. The look on his face told Sasori that he would be hearing about it soon. Sasori wondered if he should even care.

After only a few minutes, Itachi came into the locker room and sat between Kisame and Sasori on a bench in front of their lockers.

"What's with the look, Itachi?" Kisame asked seeing that Itachi looked uncharacteristically happy.

"I get to spend forth period with Suki everyday for the rest of the term," Itachi answered as he worked on the dial of his lock.

"Really? Lucky. Do you think you'll ask her out at some point?" Kisame asked.

"I don't know, maybe," Itachi answered as he unlocked his locker and then he quickly got dressed to train with the others.

The rest of the period went by without much conversation from the guys. Itachi and Kisame ran around the track and then stretched a little before doing a little arm strengthening. Sasori decided to ignore Deidara today so he wouldn't get sucked into another one of Deidara's ego trips. Since he did cardio the day before, today he worked on strength training for a while by doing some pull-ups and then he did some chakra training in the jutsu room.

After that class ended, Sasori and Itachi went to their next class together. Sasori noticed that Raven was behind them again and he kept finding ways to look back unnoticeably to see if she was still there. Like last time, she was there the entire time, and followed him into their next class. He didn't realize that they had so many classes together. A part of him wondered how he missed such a detail at first. His eyes are supposed to be trained to recognize any detail or pattern in any situation. Recognizing reoccurring faces in his surroundings should be second nature to him by now. Could it be that he got that lazy already and didn't look at anything around him? Maybe Deidara was right about him. Sasori couldn't believe that thought just crossed his mind. Of course Deidara was wrong. Deidara doesn't know anything. He's stupid.

They were sitting at their seats and Itachi noticed the irritable look on his friend's face. It looked like Sasori wanted to hurt someone. Itachi guessed it was Deidara, as usual. Sometimes he wants to hit the guy too.

Sasori's mind was swirling with theories, each making less and less sense, even to himself. Then he decided it must have to do with her. How could he have possibly missed it unless she was doing something to make herself unnoticeable at first. Maybe she was using some sort of jutsu or stealth technique. Then again, why would she have stopped using it now? And wouldn't have others noticed it as well and reported her for using jutsu in the building? Sasori is just going to have to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't slip passed his radar again.

Sasori looked towards her seat only to find it empty. She was just there a second ago! What just happened? He missed her already? It's not possible! Just then she stepped out from somewhere behind him and returned to her seat. She had moved to turn in an assignment.

Sasori's eye visibly twitched with irritation at himself. Itachi was starting to wonder if his friend had gone crazy.

Okay, so he made one slip up. Technically she disappeared before he decided to keep an eye on her, so he would just start now.

Sasori looked over again, and again she was gone. Itachi watched as Sasori dropped his head to his desk with utter failure and a cloud of self-pity and disappointment around him. Itachi's earlier theory of insanity must of have been correct.

Raven returned to her seat once again. Sasori swore he wouldn't miss her again. Starting now.

Raven hadn't moved from her seat for the rest of the class, so Sasori prided himself in not failing again, even though there wasn't anything to fail this time. As the bell rang, Sasori gathered up his things and headed up to the senior hall to get to his locker.

Sasori just closed his locker when Itachi stopped beside him. It was obvious that Itachi wanted to say something, and a part of Sasori wanted to run away from that cocky, amused look on Itachi's face.

"I don't think I've ever seen your hormones that active, Sasori," Itachi said calmly with a smirk. He had been keeping an eye on Sasori for most of the class, and when he figured out what Sasori was keeping his eye on, Itachi wanted to laugh right in the middle of class.

"What?" Sasori shot back and he heard the snickers of their friends behind him.

"Aw, did our Sasori finally hit puberty?" Hidan laughed and punched Sasori's shoulder.

Sasori clenched his teeth and glared at all of them. He didn't even know what they were talking about! Since he didn't care to find out, he began to take his leave right then. He would not let them make a fool out of him.

When he got outside of the school, it looked like it was going to rain soon. He left his umbrella at home so he would just have to be quick. Sasori sped down the steps of the main entrance of the building and hurried to the sidewalk before he suddenly stopped remembering what his grandma was telling him this morning as he was about to leave for school.

'_Sasori, I'm going to be fishing with my brother, so don't come straight home after school, go hang out with your friends and live a little.'_

As Chiyo's laughter echoed within his mind at the memory, he decided that he really didn't want to hang out with the guys right now, not after that small encounter in the hallway. Itachi would leave it alone, but Deidara would not and be annoying for the rest of the day if given the chance. Perhaps a trip to the comic book store would be enough to kill some time before going home. With that decided, he continued moving so he could beat the rain.

He got to the comic book store as it started sprinkling. Sasori likes the rain, he just doesn't like getting wet. It messes up his hair and he could get a cold.

He moved to a rack that had the latest releases on it and scanned the titles looking for the newest issues of Tailed Demons or The Return of Mysterion. Once he found the first one, he picked it up and looked at the cover before turning it over and looking at the back.

"Hello again," a female voice said from his right.

At first Sasori was confused, who would be talking to him now? When he looked he found Raven once again today. "Oh, hey," he said while quickly scanning the comic book in her hands. Seems she also reads The Return of Mysterion. "I wasn't expecting to see you here," he said.

Raven shrugged. "Normally I only come here on the weekends, but I had some time to kill," she explained.

Sasori smirked, "You too, huh? Don't tell me it's to escape from your friends," he said.

"Nope, just nothing to do until later, Suki is at cheerleading practice today, the seniors are teaching a routine or something, and we're doing something afterwards," she said. "So you're avoiding someone?"

"Sort of, Deidara can be an idiot sometimes and I don't want to deal with it today," Sasori explained and briefly wondered why he told her that, it wasn't really needed information and they only just met.

"Makes sense," she said and looked back at the bookrack in front of her. He watched her finger through some other titles and occasionally pick one up, look at it, then put it back. She looked at the Mysterion issue in her hand then looked up at him. Realizing that he was staring, he quickly adverted his eyes back to the bookrack. "See you later," he heard her say just before she stepped away.

"Y-yeah, later," he said quickly while looking back to see her go to the register. Sasori looked at the comic book he was still holding and put it back on the rack. He knew he would be coming here again anyway. Sasori was about to leave when he realized that the trip was only about ten minutes long, which didn't exactly kill enough time so he would have to find something else to do. Guess he could have hung out with Raven for awhile since she didn't seem to be doing anything either, but whatever, too late now.

Looking outside, he realized that it was already raining heavily now and he seemed to be the only person without an umbrella. He blamed this on his grandmother. If the hag hadn't annoyed him this morning, he wouldn't have forgot it. It seems his hair will just have to suffer today, and if he gets a cold he'll make sure Chiyo suffers.

Itachi was arriving home just after his younger brother. Sasuke was taking off his wet shoes in the entryway of their home as Itachi opened the door. "Hey," Itachi greeted as he hung up his umbrella.

"Hn," Sasuke muttered and moved to hang up his own umbrella.

"Learn anything at school today?" Itachi snickered.

"Lots of things, nothing new of course," Sasuke snorted.

"Ha ha, Sasuke," Itachi said sarcastically while rolling his eyes at his brother's attitude. He's such a prick lately.

"Oh wait, there was one thing I learned," Sasuke started and Itachi looked up to see him smirking. "I learned the name of the girl you like."

"Wha…?" Itachi started.

"Oh, and what she looks like," Sasuke crossed his arms. "Guess I'll go tell Mom about her, she'll want to meet her and have her over for dinner right away."

"Whatever, I know you wouldn't do that, you never want other people here at the house," Itachi retorted.

"That's true, but seeing you in an awkward situation will be funny."

"Itachi!" Their father called from the study, and both brothers halted in their tracks. Itachi sighed and then walked towards the study.

When he entered, his father was sitting at a low desk in the middle of the room. "Yes, Father?"

"Sit down, Itachi," he began and waited for the teen to take his seat across from him. "I want to talk to you about your grades. As you know, you must not slack off your senior year, you have to continue being the best," he began. "I know that with only two trimesters left, the temptation to take it easy will increase, but I must remind you that you don't have that luxury."

"Yes, Father," Itachi nodded respectfully, "I will continue progressing."

"That's not it, I want you to return to tutoring Sasuke here at home on a more regular basis," he requested.

"But Sasuke is at the top of his class," Itachi stated, confused as to why this is even needed.

"He does not seem to understand the importance of excelling and his potential future in this family. I agree that he is doing quite well, but he is still not at your level when you were his age, there is obviously room for improvement."

"But Father, you can't compare-"

"Itachi, help your brother as I requested of you," his father said sternly.

Itachi sighed and bowed his head once. "Yes, Father." He is well aware that it's not so much of a request as it is an order.

"Good, you are dismissed."

Itachi left the study and closed the door behind him. When he turned to start towards the kitchen, he found Sasuke leaning against the wall. He heard everything. "Sasuke…"

"I don't need your help anymore," Sasuke spat as he turned on his heel and went to his room.

Itachi sighed again and rubbed the back of his neck. He was not looking forward to having to deal with all this on top of the rest of his family obligations. It's times like this that he wishes he could just escape it all for a little while, and forget about all his duties, obligations, and grades. He didn't think he would ever admit it, but he was unsure if he could handle all his pressure much longer. Something good in his life is just what he needs right about now. Of course, that is just wishful thinking. He just needs to take this one day at a time and hope he makes it to graduation without breaking under the weight of the pressure that was being placed on him.

"…Great," Itachi muttered sarcastically to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Yes, I don't like Sasuke, note there is obviously some changes to the real storyline in order to make this story work, so Sasuke is just the stupid-annoying younger sibling (a prick) that Itachi has to deal with but still loves anyway. I also thought it would be funny to have Chiyo always up in Sasori's business (maybe that's why he pretty much runs away in the anime/manga) so she makes inappropriate non-grandma-like comments to tease Sasori.

So let me know what you think. Any parts you liked? Are Raven and/or Suki believable or likable? Know anyone like either of them? Am I portraying Sasori, Itachi, and/or any of the other real characters in a way that is acceptable for this, even for an AU?


	3. It's a Girl Thing

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 3: It's a Girl Thing

On Wednesday, the next day, the girls left their third period calculus class with a headache and sat in their usual spot to eat their lunches. When the tension in their heads subsided as they quickly forgot what they just learned, the conversation also turned to the usual. There was the casual topics of what they plan on doing later, what they did yesterday, the plot twists of the latest episodes in their favorite shows, and their observations of what the other students are doing in the hallway.

"Those freshmen are so stupid!" Suki groaned as a group of freshman goofed off in the senior hall.

"Stupid freshmen," Raven sighed irritably.

"They need to go away already! No one wants them here, this is the senior hall, freshmen shouldn't even be allowed up here during lunch," Suki said. "Every time they get told to go away, they just come back, too bad using force is an offense that could get us expelled."

"Probably because we seniors could kill them, they don't stand a chance against any of us," Raven said. "We could still put the fear of our wrath in them, but even that is risky and we can't exactly back up our threats like you said."

"Stupid freshmen," they said together.

They were quiet for a couple minutes as they continued eating. When some other girl's squeals were heard, they looked up to see the new young and sexy teacher, Mr. Sesshomaru, passing through to his classroom right next to their calculus classroom.

"Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" Suki giggled. Raven just laughed and continued to eat as her friend and many of the other girls blushed and sighed as the teacher passed by them. "He is so… hot!" Suki said just loud enough for Raven to hear.

"Don't let Itachi hear you say that, he might get the wrong idea about you," Raven smirked.

"We're allowed to look," Suki laughed.

"Ah, speak of the devil," Raven said and Suki looked down the hall to see Itachi and Sasori walking towards their usual spot while chatting.

When Itachi saw them, he smiled and waved before approaching them. "Hey Suki, what's up?" he asked casually as Sasori half smiled and gave a short wave to the two.

"N-nothing," she said a little quickly because she wasn't going to dare tell him that she was checking out the teacher. Suki noticed that Raven laughed softly, her friend knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Do you remember what we're doing next period?" Suki asked to direct the conversation away from her slightly awkward response.

"Yeah, we are going to go through a basic walking up walls lesson," he said.

"Oh yeah," Suki responded with a small laugh, "I can be forgetful sometimes."

Itachi smiled. "So I'll see you next class, later ladies," he said as they waved and then stepped away.

"He so likes you," Raven said once they were out of earshot.

"What!" Suki said flustered.

"He likes you," Raven repeated.

"Why do you say that?"

"I can tell, it seems obvious," Raven said. "Though I could be wrong, it's not like I'm an expert on that type of thing," she added.

"Well, I like him, so it would be great if he liked me back," Suki started. "But you know about my past and boys, they never seem to like me back."

"Guess it's time for that trend to end."

At the other end of the hall, Itachi and Sasori sat down with the others. "She so likes you," Sasori said to Itachi.

"What!" Itachi said flustered.

"She likes you," Sasori repeated.

"You think so? Or are you messing with me, you know I'm thinking about asking her out," Itachi said.

"I know so, it seems obvious," Sasori said.

"Maybe she does," Itachi thought about it. "I was thinking about asking her and her friend to hang out after school today, wanna come too?"

"Eh? Why would I do that?"

"To make it less awkward, I can't just ask a girl to hang out without it being like a date, it has to be friendly, just friends hanging out together," Itachi explained.

"Why can't someone else go?" Sasori asked, clearly not thrilled with the idea.

"Take a look at my other options," Itachi said plainly. Sasori glanced over the others of their group. Deidara and Hidan were being complete morons by fighting or competing about something and being immature as usual. Kisame is just freaky. Pain has a girlfriend that would end up coming too and his piercings might give the girl the creeps, so that's risky. Then Tobi is… well, Tobi.

"Okay, I get your point," Sasori said shortly.

"So you coming?" Itachi asked hopefully.

"Fine," Sasori agreed. He decided he might want to warn Raven about this plan next period when he sees her again about the books.

"I'll make it up to you, I swear," Itachi promised.

Eventually the bell ending lunch rang and everyone made their way to their next class. Suki parted with Raven at the bottom of the stairs of the main floor. Suki secretly couldn't wait to spend more time with Itachi in such close contact. Sure they sit next to each other in their math class, but she barely has time to look at him, let alone talk to him in that class.

Suki sat in the same seat as the day before, knowing Itachi would take the seat in front of her again.

"Hey Suki, long time no see," Itachi joked when he took his seat in front of her.

Suki giggled before they talked about general things like their math assignment, their team for this class, and finally Itachi got up the courage to ask her to hang out.

"Today after school?" Suki repeated.

"Yeah, you, me, your friend, and my friend should hang out today, we should all get to know each other, we see each other all the time and haven't really got the chance to talk," Itachi explained.

Suki was about to answer when the teacher began talking. He made a gesture saying they would continue talking later and it was no big deal. They were actually both extremely nervous about this.

Suki knew she was going to have to think of something creative to get Raven to agree to this. There was no way Suki was going to hang out with the guys by herself, that would be too awkward, she needed Raven there too.

When they walked down to the middle school, Itachi brought up his suggestion again. "So does today after school work for you?" he asked.

"It works for me, I'll have to talk to Raven next period though and see what she says," Suki said.

"No problem, and if she can't come, we can all hang out another day," he smiled.

Gosh, he can be so charming sometimes. Suki just about melted right there. She was so happy that he was understanding and that she wasn't being asked to go alone.

When they met up with the team that they're training, Itachi discreetly told Sasuke that he would be out after school today.

"Have a date already?" Sasuke taunted, causing Itachi to poke him in the forehead.

"Actually, no, I'm just busy," Itachi said, but Sasuke just looked at him like he was lying.

A few minutes after the class had started, Raven saw Sasori enter the library. He scanned the area until he found her and then approached her. "Hey," he said.

"Hey, I found a few books that might help you," she said and led him down an aisle of books. He noticed that it wasn't the art section like yesterday. "There are interesting art, myth, and genjutsu history books that contain several pictures, so if you're looking to create something unique, this might just be what you're looking for."

He watched her and she quickly scanned the shelves and pulled each of the books before she handed him the small stack. "Thank you," he said, "It would have taken me forever to get to this section in my own search."

"No problem," she said and began to step around him.

Just then he remembered Itachi's little plan and thought he should warn her. "Wait," he said. She stopped and quickly turned back to face him, ready to take any questions he may have about the books. "I was going to tell you something when I saw you here."

She tilted her head in both interest and confusion. "What is it?" she asked.

"My friend, Itachi, kind of likes your friend, and he wants all four of us to hang out after school today," Sasori explained.

"Like you and I have to go too?" she asked. He didn't fail to notice that she didn't seem surprised about what he said and about Itachi liking her friend. "Why doesn't he just ask her out?"

Sasori sighed. "I don't know, I think he wants to be on your good side too, better shot with her if her best friend approves kind of thing… I'm not really sure, I stopped listening after a certain point," he admitted.

Raven laughed softly. "Seems like he knows what he's doing, must be a strategist," she said. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"I thought you could use the heads up, might seem less confusing if I explained it beforehand."

"I see, well thanks, this also gives me time to think about it," she said before turning back around and heading towards the tables.

Sasori followed her and even sat at the same table across from her. It was just so he could ask her more questions, no really, it is. Actually, even he knew that was a lie. He was simply curious about her. He saw her bag in an empty chair next to her, and what appeared to be a sketchbook laying in front of her. Sasori looked down at the books he was supposed to be looking at and opened the one on myths. She was right, there was a lot of interesting pictures to look at, and he even took the time to read some of it too.

By the time he looked up again to look at the clock, the class period was nearly over. He looked over at Raven who was drawing in the sketchbook. It appeared as if she had been drawing the whole time. He had sensed an artistic type in her, now he knows he was right.

"That's pretty good," he said.

She looked up, her wrist moving to cover the drawing. "Thanks," she said shyly.

"Can I see it?" he asked, highly interested in what it was.

She looked at him for a second before sliding the book over to him. He turned it so it was facing him and found a goddess staring back at him. Seems she also got ideas from what she sees in these books. Without a word, he flipped the pages back to see of the other drawings. Some were detailed, and some were obviously jokes and comics so they were fast and sketchy.

He read one of the comics and laughed aloud. "That's funny," he said. He didn't guess that she had a sense of humor.

She laughed softly, causing him to look at her. She was obviously embarrassed from him looking through her sketchbook. He thought it was actually kind of cute.

"These are really good, I should let you look at my sketchbook sometime, since I just looked through yours without asking if I could see the rest," he said and slid the book back to her.

Raven took it and closed it before slipping it into her bag. "Yeah, you should," she said.

"I will," he promised. "Since our friends are gushing over each other right now, I have a feeling that we'll be seeing a lot of each other," he laughed.

Raven laughed too. "I guess that's true," she said. "Here, I'll put these away for you," she said and picked up his books. Again he followed her and watched her put away the books. Then she wrote down the book numbers on a note card and gave it to him. "That's so you can find these books again if I'm not here," she said.

"Thanks," he said and then the bell rang. "Guess it's time for training," he said.

"Let's go," she said.

Itachi and Suki walked back up to the high school since the bell to end the class was going to ring soon. They talked about their plans for after school, since Itachi didn't really know what they should do. It was decided that they would go to the local frozen yogurt place for some soft serve ice-cream.

"Do you think it'll have the brownie flavor this time?" Suki asked, knowing that the frozen yogurt place switches some of their flavors on a weekly basis.

"We'll just have to find out," Itachi smiled.

Just then another voice called out to him, "Hey, Itachi, wait up!"

Itachi turned to see his cousin, Shisui, running to catch up. "Hey! What are you doing here?" Itachi asked after sharing a quick man-hug before they continued walking to the high school.

"I just got a job here, I'm the student teacher this term for the sophomore genjutsu class," the older Uchiha explained.

"That's great, I wonder why no one else told me," Itachi said.

"I stopped by your house once last weekend, but your parents said you were busy, but I told them about it. They seriously didn't tell you I would be at your school?" Shisui seemed surprised.

"That's like my father to do that," Itachi sighed. "Me and Suki better get to class, but I'll see you around, you need to tell me how your first days went." By now they reached the high school and there was only a couple minutes left to get to class.

Shisui laughed too, "I've survived so far," he said. "So see you around," he waved before heading back to his classroom.

"Who was that?" Suki asked.

"That was my cousin and good friend, Shisui," Itachi explained. "The two of us go way back," he smiled.

"Oh okay," she said as they entered their next class. Suki immediately looked for Raven after signing in. After looking around through the other people for a few seconds to find her, Suki tried the locker room and found her there.

"Hey," Suki greeted. "Are you doing anything after school today?" she asked.

"Not really," Raven responded.

"Well if you want, Itachi asked if we could get frozen yogurt after school today with him and one of his friends," Suki said. "What do you think?" she asked, ready to try to convince Raven to go after she asks why or possibly just says no.

"Sure," Raven said while reaching into her locker, "I could go for some frozen yogurt."

Suki was speechless. That was easy. Too easy. She would contemplate why, but was too happy and relieved with the answer to do so.

"A little cold for it though," Raven continued. "But it's still good, you think it'll have the brownie flavor?"

Suki was dancing happily and barely caught Raven's question, and she stopped dancing right as Raven looked around her locker door to get a response. "Maybe, we'll just have to see!" Suki laughed awkwardly.

"…Yeah," Raven said and closed her locker. "…Are you going to get ready?"

"Oh yeah!" Suki almost forgot about the class and she quickly rushed to get ready.

The ladies stepped out of the locker room to find Itachi and Sasori waiting for them. The guys stopped talking and met up with them. "So?" Itachi asked, hoping he didn't sound hopeful and that he isn't sounding like an idiot if Suki hadn't asked Raven yet.

"It's a deal!" Suki smiled and her hands came together happily.

Deidara didn't like being ignored so he jumped in between Itachi and Sasori. "Whoa sisters! Itachi, you stud, yeah!" he grinned then Raven and Suki looked at each other for a moment before looking back at him like he was an idiot. If he wasn't a part of the foreign exchange program, he wouldn't even be in the senior training class.

"…We're not even related," Raven said coolly.

"Dumbass," Sasori called Deidara and smacked him upside the head.

"Hey! What the hell, yeah!" Deidara shouted. "Come on, you have to at least say something about them, what else am I supposed to think yeah!"

Raven and Suki looked at each other again, silently telling each other to stay away from this weirdo.

"They're friends not sisters," Itachi said.

"OH!" Deidara said realizing something. "These are the girls that you were talking abo-" Itachi cut him off by landing a hard punch in the side of the face. Deidara landed on the floor, out cold.

Itachi laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck while Sasori placed his forehead in his hand. "Ignore Deidara, he's an idiot, right Sasori?" Itachi tried, hoping Sasori would back him up.

"Major idiot," Sasori sighed, his face still in his hand.

"Is he okay?" Suki asked looking at the blonde on the floor.

"Uh… he's fine!" Itachi said, "I think…"

"Um, Suki," Raven started, "I think we should go train now…" Raven said and motioned Suki away.

"But what about-"

"You'll see him after school, don't worry about it, it's not him I'm trying to get us away from, it's the situation when a teacher sees what happened," Raven explained.

"Oh that's right," Suki said understanding.

"Let's go to the pool, we could use the focus practice," Raven suggested. The two got a couple of jump ropes and walked out onto the water and began their practice. If a ninja can jump rope on the water, then they can do just about anything else.

The teacher didn't do anything about Deidara, that guy gets knocked around often enough and it could easily be blamed on a training exercise.

"Um, Raven?" Suki started.

"Yeah?" she asked, not looking over so she could continue concentrating.

"I think I saw Itachi come in here too," Suki said.

Raven looked over, careful not to lose her concentration, and confirmed that Itachi came in too. He stepped out onto the pool and approached them while keeping out of the reach of the jump ropes. Raven and Suki stopped so he could talk to them and they were now standing on the water.

"I wanted to let you know that we want to meet outside the south exit of the school so we can leave together," Itachi said.

"Sure!" Suki smiled, "I'll be there."

"That's great," Itachi smiled. "See you later," he waved.

Suki waved back and then stood in a daze until Raven began the exercise again and she hurried to resume as well. She couldn't wait until school got out so she could go out with Itachi. This was their first unofficial date after all!

"You're really excited for this, aren't you?" Raven laughed seeing the happy look on her friend's face.

Suki giggled, "Of course!" They both laughed.

The last class of the day went by slowly, but came to an end eventually. Itachi went ahead after he was done in his locker so he could meet up with Suki. Raven and Sasori walked down together until they all met up at the meeting place.

There was some joking and talking on the way to the frozen yogurt place. Raven tried her best to keep the conversation going to prevent awkward silences for her friend. Despite being reserved, she had a few topics that she thought of ahead of time to help things alone. As far as she was concerned, this would be a pleasant experience for her friend, and so far it was a mission success judging by the smile that seemed to be permanently glued to Suki's features.

"Aw, there's no brownie flavor this time!" Suki exclaimed when she looked over the flavors available this week. "No biggy! I can still get my other favorite," she smiled and took a cup so she could dispense the chocolate and vanilla swirl, an option that is always available.

Itachi got the same as Suki just because he could. Then they went over to the toppings bar to pick those out before paying.

Sasori was looking over the flavors to pick from when he saw Raven get Strawberry. For some reason he thought that was an odd choice for a girl like her. Raven could tell she was being watched and when she looked over at him, he quickly went back to picking what he wanted. He got plain chocolate.

The four sat at one of the tables, the guys facing the shop window. It was quiet for a minute while they ate.

"I can't wait for winter break to start," Raven said.

"Do you have any plans?" Sasori asked her.

"Just relaxing and visiting my sisters, what about you?"

"I'm going to my great uncle's house for the holiday, but that's about it, besides homework," he answered.

"I wish the teachers wouldn't give us homework over break," Itachi said.

"Yeah, everyone either does it right away and forgets about what they did by the time school starts again, or they wait until the last minute," Suki added.

They talked about their vacation plans a little while longer until they stopped talking to finish eating. Even though they were done eating, they stuck around so they could talk more. They were all becoming fast friends.

Sasori looked up at one point to see Deidara and Tobi making faces in the window, then pointing and laughing at them. Itachi saw them too and looked at Sasori for any explanations. The girls noticed when the guys looked passed them and looked back as well.

"What are they doing?" Suki asked.

"Being stupid," Itachi said.

"As usual," Sasori added.

"Isn't that the guy you punched during senior training, Itachi?" Raven asked, both she and Suki turning back to face them, purposefully ignoring the idiots outside.

"U-uh, yeah…" Itachi laughed nervously.

"That's just what happens to Deidara, and they're leaving now," Sasori added.

"Why'd you punch him anyway?" Suki asked.

"Deidara was about to blab that Itachi likes- Ouch!" Sasori jumped in his seat when Itachi stomped on his foot. "…Deidara was about to say something he shouldn't…" Sasori said carefully.

"Like what?" Suki asked him, hiding her hopefulness of an early confession.

"How should I know? It was something about Itachi, ask him," Sasori said.

"What was it about, Itachi?" Suki asked him.

"Uh… well… um… It was…" He was desperately trying to think of something to say. He didn't want to look pathetic and confess that he had been thinking about her all year and now that he finally learned her name and has talked to her, he already wants to ask her out and even go steady. For some reason he couldn't think of anything to say other than the truth. This was a failure in his ninja life.

Raven stood up and began to walk away, Suki looked to her and saw when Raven winked. Suki understood it was to give them some privacy since it was obvious that whatever Itachi was trying to say, it was uncomfortable and supposed to be private.

Then Sasori looked at Raven questioningly and all she did was gesture for him to follow. He stood and went to her. "What?" he asked.

"They need some privacy, some private date time if you will," Raven said with a smirk.

"Ah, I see," Sasori nodded understanding. They both watched Itachi and Suki from the other side of the room.

"Is there something you need to tell me, Itachi?" Suki smiled.

"Actually…" Itachi started while blushing now, remembering how to find his courage, "I've been thinking about you a lot lately… so… I thought we should go out sometime if you want," he said and then added quickly, "I mentioned something about it to the guys today so Deidara was just being a loudmouth."

Suki giggled. "Is that all?"

"W-well, yeah," Itachi blushed.

"Of course we can go out, I don't mind something like that at all!" Suki said and reached into her bag. "Here's my phone number if you want to make plans again," she smiled and handed him a piece of pink paper with her name and number already written on it.

"I will," Itachi said.

"Excuse me now," Suki smiled as she stood up. Raven was standing by her suddenly now, so Suki quickly pulled Raven to the lady's room.

When they got inside it, Suki giggled and put her hands on her burning cheeks. "I take it went well?" Raven said when Suki hadn't said anything about what happened at the table.

Suki nodded rapidly. "He just asked me out!" she squealed with excitement.

"That's great!" Raven laughed. "Did you give him the paper?"

"Yep! Making one ahead of time was a good idea!"

"What'd I tell you, it pays to be prepared."

"Yeah, now I just need a moment to calm down," Suki fanned herself with her hands. Raven helped until they decided they should go back out there before the guys start to wonder what happened to them.

They joined the guys back at the table and started talking casually again. Since it's just before winter, it was going to start getting dark soon so it was probably time to head home. They walked together as long as they could, but soon it was time for the guys to go in another direction.

"This was really fun," Itachi said, "I'm glad you decided to join me."

"It was no problem at all, I was happy to come!" Suki smiled.

"Now these two just need to get together, and we could double date," Itachi teased. Raven just looked shocked and Sasori face-palmed.

"Yeah! You're right, Itachi!" Suki began excited and looked at Raven hopefully.

Raven had no idea what she was supposed to say at a time like this so she just stood blankly.

"Funny, Itachi," Sasori began. "You and your fantasies," he said and began walking away again.

"Oh come on Sasori, admit it!" Itachi called and chased after him. "You've had your eye on her all week!"

Raven blushed while Suki laughed. "Whatever," Raven said and began walking home.

"This is so exciting!" Suki giggled at Raven. "What if he really does like you?"

"Not my problem," Raven said quickly.

"What!" Suki started upset. "What if he asks you out?"

"Then he'll be disappointed," Raven said bluntly.

"Raven!"

"I'm not looking for a relationship," she said.

"But what if it finds you?" Suki asked. "Remember what you said? If someone wanted to ask you out, you'd give them a chance?"

"Whatever," Raven said.

"Do you like him?" Suki asked suddenly.

"Can't say."

Suki sighed, frustrated with her friend. "Do you at least think he's cute?"

"…Maybe," Raven admitted while blushing.

"Yay! There's hope for you after all!" Suki exclaimed. "I think you two would be really good together, you seem to have common interests and it's like you even think the same. Promise me this, if he asks you out, you have to give him a chance to win you over," Suki proposed.

"Fine, whatever, it goes without saying anyway," Raven said.

"Tee-hee, okay I'll hold you to it, you helped me with the guy I like, so I can repay you by helping you with your love life," Suki said.

Raven sighed. "Goodbye, Suki," she said. By then they had reached their garden apartments and Raven was pulling out the keys to hers.

"Okay, bye-bye!" Suki called and ran over to her own door and unlocked it.

"Did you really have to yell out something like that?" Sasori muttered to Itachi. "She probably heard that and now she'll think I like her or something."

"But you do like her," Itachi said.

"Whatever, no I don't," Sasori said looking away.

"Liar, you're blushing," Itachi teased.

"No I'm not!"

Itachi just laughed for a second before calming down. "But seriously, why have you been watching her all the time?"

"I don't know," Sasori said. "Just curious about her."

"Why just her?"

"I don't know, that's what I'm trying to find out," Sasori said.

"I can tell you why, you like-"

"I get it, Itachi," Sasori cut him off. "But I don't think that's it."

"Even if I'm wrong, you two seem like you would do really well together, you're like on the same wavelength or something, and from what I know about you, that's really saying something," Itachi said.

Sasori thought about it for a moment. "So you think we're alike?"

"Yeah, more than alike, compatible," Itachi said, knowing he was getting through to the red-head.

"Bah, whatever, I'll think about it if it'll get you off my case," Sasori submitted.

"Sure thing," Itachi nodded and then grinned, "…I got a girl's phone number, I got a girl's phone number, I got a girl's phone number…" he chanted while waving the pink paper in Sasori's face.

"Shut up, good for you, I don't care," Sasori said.

Itachi laughed, "I know, but I couldn't wait until tomorrow to rub it in someone's face so I did it now," he said. "See you tomorrow, think about what we talked about!" Itachi waved as the guys parted ways to go home.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I actually do keep cards with my name and e-mail with me most of the time. My real name seems to be difficult and e-mail ensures I get the message, you'd be surprised when you find you might need to give someone a way to contact you, it pays to be prepared.

There's a really popular frozen yogurt place right next to my university, people go there no matter how cold or hot it is. Hence, the reason it made its way into this fic.

Again, let me know you think. Parts you like or what you think of my character portrayals for this AU, anything.**  
><strong>


	4. Sugar is Sweet

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 4: Sugar is Sweet

Fridays, the day of the week that nearly every sane student looks forward to. Especially after a long, eventful week.

Itachi had called Suki yesterday and asked her out to a movie over the weekend. Right after she got off the phone with Itachi after his father told him to go do something, Suki called Raven so she could tell her about it and express her excitement. She was picking the movie, but he was paying, so Raven agreed that it was totally an official date.

Sasori continued to visit the library, and Raven, the remainder of the week during his free period. They didn't talk much, but he always sat in the same place across from her at her usual table. The first day she did her math homework and then drew in her sketchbook again while he read more in the books she had recommended. And earlier today they both spent their time reading. Sasori forgot to bring his own sketchbook both days, so he asked if they could meet up over the weekend and he could show her, as well as his concept drawings for his final project and maybe she could give some advice. Raven accepted his idea and gave him her phone number so they could make plans tonight over the phone. Sasori was a little surprised that she didn't actually write it down for him, but simply pulled out a note card from the front pocket of her bag with her information already written on it. He guessed that she figured somebody was going to need it eventually, so she just plans ahead. Cool.

"Raven!" Suki called over her friend in the gym after school.

"Hey," Raven greeted casually.

"Yeah, cheer practice is going to go for only an hour today, so what are you going to do before we leave?"

"I'll hang out in the library, maybe get a little weekend homework done, I have a lot of Government reading to do before Monday anyway," Raven said.

"Okay, I'll come get you after practice," Suki said.

Raven went back to the library and as she entered she briefly thought that she should find a new place to go, because she already spent way too much time in this room, even for her own liking. She sat down in her chair and her usual table, and took out her textbook. Time to read about History and Government. How fun. Not.

"Are you always here?" a familiar voice said.

Raven looked up to see Sasori standing by what is now his usual chair. "I am not, I swear," Raven said.

Sasori chuckled. "Even so, for some reason when I came in here just a second ago, I expected to see you sitting there, you're always there," he said.

"I suppose to you I am," Raven said and Sasori took his seat.

"Deidara wants me to wait here for him, he's has to do something and then we're heading to his place to work on a project," he explained.

"Yeah?"

"It's for our art class," he added. "Even though we disagree on nearly everything, the teacher still seems to think it's a good idea to pair us up on every project… basically, I'm not looking forward to this at all," he explained before he took a book from his bag so he could start his Government reading as well.

"Why do you think you always work together?" Raven asked.

Sasori shrugged. "Still get A's, guess he's just making us work harder for the grade," he sighed as Raven nodded in understanding. They both went back to their reading silently.

The minutes passed before they heard Deidara shouting down the hallway as he approached the library with Tobi close behind. "Yo Sasori, I got what I needed, let's go yeah!" Deidara only took a couple steps into the library before stopping. "Oh hello," he began with a knowing smirk aimed at Sasori, who was picking up this bag and adjusting the strap on his shoulder. "I didn't know you were joining Itachi and Pain in the teenage mating ritual, I'll leave you two alone yeah…"

"Tobi will study mating ritual!" Tobi declared happily and prepared his notebook and clicked his pen.

Deidara laughed at Sasori's annoyed look until Raven hushed all of them. "Huh?" Deidara stopped and looked to the girl that was trying to read.

"This is a library, be quiet," Raven stated.

"But no one else is in here so-" Deidara started loudly, but was hushed again. This time in a quieter tone, "You found your perfect girl, Sasori," Deidara said. "Can we go now, I feel like she'll kill me with her eyes if I don't leave in the next thirty seconds yeah?"

"See what I have to deal with?" Sasori said to Raven and they both sighed irritably. "Well, see you later," he waved before following the others.

"See ya," she waved back. "And good luck," she added and he smirked as he left.

Soon Suki came to the library and then the girls left the school. Suki wanted to see what movies were being shown at the theater so she could have time to think about which movie she wanted to see with Itachi.

"Oh I wanna see this one, but it's animated and fluffy, I think Itachi is probably more of an action person," Suki pondered as she looked over the movies.

"How about this adventure one?" Raven suggested.

"Yeah I wanted to see this one too!" Suki smiled, "I hope he hasn't seen it already."

"I don't think he cares what movie you see." Suki didn't hear Raven as she was daydreaming about being in a dark theater with Itachi. Raven sighed as Suki continued to giggle about her fantasy.

When that passed it was time to move onto the next place. "Ice-cream!" Suki cheered.

"Let's go," Raven laughed.

By the time they reached their apartments, it was getting dark. As it is almost winter, the sun is setting earlier each day.

"I can't wait until tomorrow, now if I can only decide what to wear!" Suki said.

"You're on your own on that one, but you can still run over here for approval before you leave," Raven suggested.

"Will do!" The girls then parted ways to the doors of their separate apartments.

Just as Raven set down her things, the phone rang so she moved to answer it, hoping Suki wasn't in a bind already. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Raven, it's me," Sasori said on the other end. He was hoping his grandmother wouldn't get home too soon and find out he's on the phone with a girl, that would only stir up trouble for him.

"Sasori?" Raven confirmed.

"Yeah," he said and they were silent for several seconds, he knew he should say why he's calling. "So I'm calling about plans this weekend, is tomorrow evening a good time for you?"

"It is," she said, and they were quiet again.

"I already gave you my address, and my grandmother is going to be with her brother then so we won't have to worry about her," Sasori added.

"…What's there to worry about?" Raven asked.

"…Ah… it's complicated… she doesn't understand the concept of having a girl as a friend… and that she doesn't have to show everyone pictures of me when I was little just because they stepped through the front door…" he explained a bit awkwardly.

"…I see, so save you some embarrassment," she stated, "I get that…"

"So is six a good time for you? It shouldn't take long to look at everything I've got for my project," he said.

"That is fine, I'll you then," Raven said. Soon they hung up and Raven wrote the plan on her calendar so she wouldn't forget about it. Guess this week wasn't going to end quite yet after all.

The next morning Suki spent about a couple hours after cleaning up trying to decide what to wear on her date with Itachi. He planned to meet her there at noon, so she had one hour left. It was just lunch and a movie, so nothing fancy needed. How should she do her hair? Heels, flats, platforms, or perhaps boots?

"Choices, choices…" Suki sighed. She thought about calling Raven, but decided against it since she would only get a neutral answer or a list of pros and cons which wouldn't really help right now. Not to mention, it's still morning. Raven is no fun in the mornings. Suki isn't usually much better, but her excitement today made up for it.

Suki wondered what Itachi would be wearing when she arrived at the theater. If only she knew so she could at least try to match it. Looking at the time again, she realized that she had to make up her mind fast.

Finally, she chose a wavy black skirt that had a single pink flower printed on the side, a white camisole with a lace neckline, and a pink long sleeved top with a tie in the front to close it at her waist. Her hair was how it usually is, down with the sides pulled back and fastened in the back with a her favorite pink ribbon. Then she put on long solid black stockings and pink flats. Suki almost called it good, but remembered that she wanted to wear a necklace too, so she put on her white chocker with a dangling pink heart.

"There!" Suki smiled in the mirror after she put on the necklace. Looking at the clock, she found that she still had five minutes before she had to leave to meet up with Itachi. She picked up her purse and quickly walked over to Raven's place next door. Suki knocked and waited a few seconds before Raven opened the door.

Raven looked sleepy, wearing weekend sweats and a baggy shirt while standing slouched with a cup of tea in hand. "…What's up?" she asked.

"I'm about to leave for my date with Itachi, is this outfit okay?" Suki asked.

Raven took a moment to think and sipped her tea. "It's a movie and lunch right?" she asked.

"Yep," Suki answered.

"Then it's fine," Raven said.

"Really, are you sure?"

"Yes, now you don't want to late so yeah," she said and sipped her tea.

"Right! When I get back, I'll tell you how it went!" Suki said and began to run off.

"Good luck!" Raven called before closing the door.

Suki began to happily skip as she approached the theater. She was finally going on a date with Itachi Uchiha! He's only the guy she's had a crush on for what felt like forever. The air outside was cool and crisp, no breeze to send chills her way, and the sky itself was partly cloudy. Today was going to be a great day.

She soon found herself outside the theater and didn't see Itachi anywhere around. She looked inside the theater too, just in case, even though they planned to meet outside. He wasn't there either, so he must have been running a little late. No problem, she can just wait for him. She sat down on an empty bench and reached into her purse to get her lip-gloss. After reapplying that, she put it back in her purse and waited.

"Hey there," Itachi said only a few steps away.

"Itachi, hey!" Suki smiled as she stood up to greet him.

"You didn't wait long did you? I'm sorry I am a little late, I had a hard time getting out the door today," he smiled.

"Oh, I just got here too, so it's no problem at all," she smiled and looked at him. His hair was how it usually is, and he was wearing a black and white polo shirt with a simple navy jacket and black pants. As always, his silver necklace hung closely around his neck, and he looked as charming as ever.

"You look great by the way, are you cold?" he said.

"Not at all!" she said while blushing softly at the compliment.

"So what did you decide on?" he asked and gestured for her to walk with him to the movie listings.

"I thought we could see the new adventure one," she said.

"Cool, I've been wanting to see that one too," he said and she watched him as his eyes scanned the listings to find the title and times. "Looks like it will start in another hour, that means we can get lunch first, what do you think about that?" he smiled.

"Sounds good to me," she said and looked away shyly as she fiddled with the strap of her purse.

He didn't fail to notice this and his smile grew slightly wider. "Well then, please come this way with me, Princess," he said in his most princely manner.

Suki couldn't help but giggle softly at his antics, but played along, "If you insist," she laughed and began to follow him.

They chose to go to the nearby sub-sandwich place. Suki insisted that she pay for her own food since he was paying for the movie. She thought about getting a salad, but she was hungry and got the sandwich instead. Sandwiches are better than salads anyway, and she didn't want to appear weight-conscious to Itachi.

They sat at a table near a window and chatted about school and friends a little between eating. As they ate, they were quite for a little bit as they both gazed out the window.

Itachi really hoped he wasn't boring her by talking about his lame schoolwork and idiot friends. He considered saying something about Sasuke, girls always seem to like it when he talked about him, but the prick pissed him off this morning so he didn't want to bring up the topic of his stupid prick brother anyway. Itachi stole a couple glances at Suki as she watched some people walking outside. He couldn't get over how cute she was today. She was certainly worthy of the title 'Princess', at least when he was with her. He wanted to make sure she had a great time. Too bad his heart won't stop racing. He was so nervous, and he really wanted this date to go well, but he felt like he was doing terribly.

Suki looked over at him to find his eyes were on her. She smiled at him and he smiled back as his heart tightened and did back flips in his chest. Was he sweating? Did he look nervous? He wanted her to have a nice time, a fond memory, but was he over thinking? Wait, was he shaking? Gosh, if it was up to him, he'd kiss her right now! But that's weird right? This is only their first date. He's had a crush on this girl for a while so it's only natural for him to be happy now that he's finally with her. But he's not 'with' with her. What does that even mean?

"Are you okay?" Suki asked. He was being really quiet and his eyebrows were creasing in a forced way.

"I-I'm fine," he said quickly. He really wished he could've held the confidence he had when they were in front of the theater. His nerves were getting the best of him already.

"Are you not having fun?" she asked softly.

"I am," he assured, "I'm just a bit nervous and over thinking," he admitted.

"Nervous?" she repeated with an amused smile, "What's there to be nervous about?" she asked sweetly. Sure she was nervous too, but he seemed to be more so.

"I just want you to have a good time, but I'm boring you instead…" he said with a sidelong glace.

To his surprise, she laughed. "You're not boring!" she said. "And I'm having a great time talking with you, Itachi," she assured him.

Itachi nodded with a smile. That was all he needed to hear to ease his mind. This woman must really something to have made it that easy. He's defiantly asking her out again after today.

When they finished up a few minutes later, they went back to the theater and got their tickets. "Here you are," Itachi said as he handed her one.

"Thanks!" she smiled. Since they just ate, they only got drinks for the movie.

When they entered their movie, they were one of the first people in there, so they got to chose from nearly any seat in the house. Suki was a bit surprise when Itachi led her to the back the theater and took a seat near the center. She blushed as she took the seat next him. Her mind was racing with images of various things they could do in the darkness of the back of the theater while everyone else's eyes were focused on the big screen in front of them. Suki reached into her purse for her lip-gloss and reapplied before putting it back and placed her purse on the floor by her feet and taking a sip of her drink.

Itachi only just now thought of what she might be thinking about his choice of seating. He felt really stupid. It's not like he was going to try to make-out with her on the first date, so why did he have to pick this space? Right now, he wanted to find the nearest wall and pound his forehead against it while calling himself stupid with each thump of skull to wall. He settled with placing his forehead in his hand as he supported his elbow on the armrest. This just had to get awkward, didn't it?

Suki was watching the ads, and didn't look at Itachi for a minute while he regained his composure.

"I heard this movie is supposed to be really good, I'm glad you picked it for us to watch together, Suki," Itachi said as some people took the seats a couple rows in front of them.

"Yeah, me too! And Raven wants a thorough review after," Suki laughed.

"Sasuke and Kisame would like to hear about it too," he added.

In a couple more minutes the actual previews started, followed by the movie itself, and nearly two hours later they left the theater pleased.

"That was a great movie!" Suki said. "Though the music was really loud at a couple spots…"

Itachi laughed, "Is your elbow going to be okay? You hit it against the armrest pretty hard when you jumped."

Suki pouted, "It's not funny, it hurt!"

He was still laughing softly, but lifted her elbow and examined it. His fingers brushed against her skin gently and she only blushed. "I think you'll be fine, just put some ice on it when you get home," he said.

"Okay," she answered.

"Can I walk you home?" he asked with a slight blush.

Suki blushed too. "If you want too," she answered.

"Then shall we go?" he said and offered her his arm. She smiled and took hold of him as they continued walking, she led the way for the most part since he didn't know where she lived. As they walked, they talked about the movie and what parts they were probably going to highlight to their friends and his bother.

Too soon, they reached her doorstep. "Is anyone else home?" he asked when he saw her taking out a key and that there were no lights on inside from the windows.

"I live alone," she answered.

"Oh, sorry," he said quickly. Younger people living alone wasn't uncommon around here, but it was almost always because of bad circumstances.

"It's okay," she smiled as she let go of his arm and stepped up to her door and turned to face him. "I had a really great time with you Itachi, thank you for today," she said sweetly.

"It was my pleasure, I hope we can do it again soon," he said.

"Of course, call me later okay?" she asked.

"Sure," he nodded. Then she kissed his cheek and opened her door, giving him the slightest peak inside her apartment as he blushed and waved dreamily as she waved goodbye.

"Bye," she said before closing the door.

"…Bye," he said quietly as his hand came up to touch his cheek. He smiled and put his hands in his jacket pockets as he turned to head home himself.

Suki was leaning her back against her door since she closed it and let out a dreamy sigh. She was right, today was great.

Suki put her purse down with a smile and returned to her bedroom to change clothes. Then she headed over to Raven's place. Soon Suki was sitting in the lounge area of Raven's apartment as Raven poured some tea and listened to Suki talk about her date.

"I'm glad it went well," Raven smiled as she picked up her tea and took a sip. She made a face before setting the cup back down and adding more sugar to it. She likes this tea sweet.

"I hope he calls me tonight," Suki said.

"He might, but they say guys don't like to call right after the date, he might wait until tomorrow," Raven said. "And you'll see him Monday."

"Yeah," Suki agreed and sipped her tea.

"I think I might see that movie sometime too," Raven said.

"You should, it was really good, you'd like it," Suki nodded. "The music can be loud sometimes though."

"Did you jump and hit your elbow on the armrest again?" Raven asked.

Suki blushed and pouted. "The armrests should have padding or something on the sides!" Suki declared.

Raven just smirked and nodded. "Think that if the armrest wasn't there, you might have elbowed Itachi in the side."

"I don't even want to think about something embarrassing like that!" Suki blushed redder but still laughed at the thought.

Raven laughed too. "Still, it's good you had a nice day," she added and Suki nodded as they both reached for their tea.

They were quiet for a minute as they drank their tea. "So Raven…" Suki started mischievously and her friend looked up. "Did Sasori visit the library again yesterday, you haven't said anything about him lately," she smirked.

"Yeah, he did," Raven answered.

"So that's everyday this week," Suki smirked. "You talk to him again?"

"Yeah," Raven said.

"About?" Suki urged.

"Just his project, he wants my opinion on what's he's got so far, so I have to go see it this evening," Raven said.

"Wait, back up," Suki said surprised. "Are you going to Sasori's place tonight?"

"Yeah, he asked for my help," Raven said.

Suki giggled, "I think you were asked out, Raven!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "It's schoolwork, that would hardly count as anything remotely close to a date," she said flatly.

"At any rate, I think he might like you, he seems to talk to you a lot," Suki said.

"He could just be social," Raven said.

Suki shook her head. "That's not what Itachi told me today, he said that Sasori is antisocial, but has mentioned his conversations with you a number of times already."

Raven blushed slightly. "It's just friends, don't get excited just because I'm a girl and he's a boy, that doesn't mean there has to be anything made of it."

"I hope he asks you out!" Suki giggled.

"Why would he do that?"

"Come on, he's really cute, not like Itachi of course, but you two would be so good together!" Suki continued.

"Again, why are you getting so worked up?"

"Oh I can't wait!" Suki giggled and she began to fantasize about all of them hanging out and having a great time.

Raven sighed, realizing that Suki wasn't listening anymore as she continued to giggle and daydream.

When Suki was going to head back to her own place, she stopped at the door to say bye to her friend. "I'll talk to you later, I hope you have a good time at the hunky artist's house!" she laughed as Raven looked annoyed.

"Bye," Raven said as she waved to her still laughing friend as she let herself out.

"Sasori!" his grandmother called from the front room of their residence.

"Yeah?" he asked as he moved to leave his room and make his way to the front room.

"I'm leaving now, what are you going to do this fine Saturday night?" she asked.

He sighed, "I already told you that a friend is coming by for a while to help with some schoolwork, do you not believe me?"

"Schoolwork on a Saturday? You should go out, go dancing or something and meet girls!" Chiyo insisted.

"Yeah, whatever," Sasori said. "Weren't you going somewhere?" he added.

"Oh yes, I don't want to keep my only brother waiting," she laughed as she turned to leave.

"Crazy old woman," Sasori grumbled and went back to his room. He worked on some stuff for a couple hours until he heard a knock at the door. Looking at the clock, he found that it was just after six. That meant it must be Raven so he moved to answer the door. "Hey," he greeted. "Come in," he said and moved to the side and closed the door behind her.

Raven was wearing simple clothes, instead of black pants, she was wearing gray ones with a plain red shirt under a black jacket. She had her kunai as always, but now she had a purse instead of her book bag. Since he was at home, Sasori was wearing basic blue pants and a tan shirt.

"So, you're project?" Raven began right away.

"Everything's in my room, I'll bring everything in here so there's more light," he said gesturing the living area before he hurried off to his room to get his stuff. After only a few minutes, he had his project stuff laid out in front of them. "I've been working on it most of the day when my grandmother wasn't bothering me," he said as he sat down nearby and she looked at some papers.

They got straight to work on the project. He actually had a lot of ideas, but some would obviously take a lot more time to complete than others, and the time it would take is too much for him to get it done before the project is due. At one point, while he was writing some things down, he gave her his latest sketchbook for her to look through.

"What's this?" she asked when he handed it to her.

"That's my sketchbook, I said I'd let you see it, remember?" he said.

Of course she remembered, as a ninja, she is expected to retain what people say in case it comes up later. "Alright, I'll take a look," she said and leaned back in her seat.

"Yeah, this part might take me a little while, so take your time," he said as he went back to writing.

Opening up the book she looked at the first few pictures. They were all of animals, and she noticed the detail. In the corners of the pages were the animal's skeletal limbs, arrows and notes indicating how they connect and move. He has either studied this anatomy well, or simply observed the ways creatures move and connected that information with what he already knew about movement. There were also sketches of comic book characters, his friends, and dozens of puppet construction ideas. Sasori seemed to have a deep understanding of how things worked in order to move properly.

Raven flipped to the latest picture in the sketchbook to find one of herself at her usual spot in the library. "Hey!" she pouted with a slight glare. "You didn't say you were drawing me."

"Of course not, because then the pose would have changed and messed me up," Sasori said. "You didn't look up once for twenty minutes while you were reading, I couldn't resist the opportunity," he added.

Raven just sighed and closed the book, even though it was kind of flattering that he took the time to do something like that. It wasn't until a few seconds later that she actually decided she wanted to know why. "Why did you do it?"

"You were sitting so still and I don't get to draw real girls very often, I just felt like it," he explained.

"Okay," she said, accepting the answer. It made sense after all.

"So what do you think about this plan? I can create two ninja arts puppets with at least four weapons each, one in a life sized human form to specialize in offense, and another animal-like one that has more defense," he said.

"Do you think you'll get them both done in time?" Raven asked as she leaned over to look at the notebook he was writing in.

"The puppets themselves will be easy, getting the weapons hidden inside them but still making them quick and easy to use will be the time-consuming part," he said.

"Okay, and the thesis of the essay was going to compare and contrast the uses of each and the skills required for both of them?"

"Yeah, now I just have to draw up my plans," he said and reached for a green folder. "I've got a lot of ideas already in here, but I'm not sure which one I should stick with."

"Did you want my help on this part too?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, you might be able to give me a lot better feedback than Deidara, his answer to everything is to put a suicide bomb inside the puppet and take out an enemy that way, but that's not exactly the kind of thing I'm into, especially since it's takes a lot of time and work to make these things, I don't want to destroy them right away, I want these things to last."

"I understand that, it makes more sense to make things that will last, that's what art is after all," she added.

"Finally, someone who gets it," Sasori laughed. "I can't tell you the number of times I've argued about this topic with my idiot friend Deidara," he said.

They continued to talk and go through the puppet plans he had drawn up until they both looked up at the time. It was already past ten. She had been here for over four hours without even realizing it.

"I'm sorry, I should probably get ready to leave now," Raven said as she tucked her bangs behind an ear and then reached for her bag.

"Yeah, I had no idea what time it was," Sasori scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks for coming over here and helping," he said.

"No problem," she nodded and they made their way towards the door. "I'll see you at school, Sasori," she said as he opened the door for her.

"Will you be okay going home by yourself at this hour?" he asked.

"I'll be fine," she smiled and patted her kunai pouch.

"Right," he said with a chuckle. "Bye Raven, see you at school," he waved as she stepped out.

"Bye," she waved back.

Sasori continued to watch her until she turned the nearby corner before he closed the door. He sighed to himself before he began to pick up his things and return it all to his bedroom. He couldn't believe he had lost track of time so easily, but everything they talked about was interesting to him and it kept leading into another conversation. If he had known that she was going to be here that long, he would have made some tea and got a snack. Hopefully this didn't reflected poorly on him, since he was the one to invite her.

After all the stuff for his project was organized and put away on his desk, Sasori fell back into his bed and looked out the window. It was still sort of cloudy so he couldn't see many stars. He hoped it wasn't too cold for Raven to walk home so late when it's almost winter. Again, bad host on his part. Maybe he should have insisted that he walk her home? He knew that she could take care of herself, but he felt like he should have done something to make it up to her. Maybe he'll think of something later, he'll see her again on Monday anyway.

Itachi was sitting on the back porch of his family's home, just relaxing for a bit after an eventful day. First he trained with Sasuke, who then gave him crap about having to leave because he had lunch plans with someone, the date with Suki. What made it worse was that their father heard, and then also gave Itachi crap about slacking off to hang out instead of training to become even stronger and make sure Sasuke keeps getting stronger. The only reason Itachi was still able to go see Suki was because his mother stepped in and said that his father shouldn't hold him up and cause him to be late, and how being late would be dishonorable to the Uchiha. While Itachi hated that reason, he was still glad he had enough time to clean up and meet up with Suki for their date. The date had been great, even with a few bumpy points, especially when his mind was getting the better of him. That date had really been the highlight of his week, maybe more than that.

Itachi sighed slightly as he touched his cheek again. He wasn't expecting her to kiss him, but he was sure glad she did. It also confirmed that she liked him. Even his heart was still dancing. He had thought about their date and the small kiss for the entire walk home.

Luckily, his father had left before Itachi got home, so he wasn't met at the door by his father's dominating, impatient look. Instead, he was met by his younger brother who bitched at him for like five whole minutes straight until Itachi poked him in the forehead again. That really set Sasuke off, but at least the prick stormed off to be emo in his room and left Itachi alone the rest of the day. After that, Itachi had some peace and quiet in his room until his father came home and ordered him to demonstrate some really advanced jutsu that really wears out the Sharigan despite the issues Itachi has had with overuse. His father didn't let Itachi stop until he collapsed on his hands and knees. That was hours later. Itachi didn't understand why his father was being so insistent, or a jerk for that matter. At least Itachi had graduation to look forward to. As soon as he graduates, he can move into his own place without the guilt trip of leaving. He would probably stick close to the Uchiha, but not being around his family was sounding better and better each day.

Still, every time he thought about that date and that little kiss today, a small smile would creep back up to his face.

For what could be the first time in a very long time, everyone was actually looking forward to Monday at school.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Die, Sasuke, die...

Poor Itachi, but he's doing fine. Naturally, he can't be excellent at everything, dating might just take a little practice (foreshadow maybe?). So does Sasori like Raven? Does she even like him?

Let me know what you thought, anything helps. Even if it's years later and you're reading this, I still want to your input.


	5. Secret Sweetness

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 5: Secret Sweetness

Monday arrived quickly and the students of Konoha-Suna Union High School were arriving to school and making their way to their first period classrooms. It was quite cold today even though the sky was clear, so many of the students had on their coats and closed-toe shoes today. Even Suki wore full length pants today. She and Raven talked a little in the library before Suki had to go to her first class.

As Suki left the library she nearly bumped into Sasori, who was on his way in. "Oh, hi!" Suki quickly greeted as she moved passed him.

He muttered a quick hey as well before continuing to the library and she hurried up the hall. As Sasori entered the library he saw Raven at her usual table in her usual seat. He had to blink twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Smirking, he stepped up to the table. "You really are always here, aren't you?" he teased.

Raven looked up from her notebook and stared at him blankly. "No I'm not," she said.

"Then tell me how you're here every time I come here?" he said smugly.

She raised an eyebrow, "That would just mean you're always here too," she retorted.

He laughed and then took his usual seat across from her. "Why are you here anyway?" he asked.

"I'm the library aide this period, I have to be here," Raven answered.

Sasori was now confused. "Wait, I thought you were that aide forth period after lunch, since you were here all last week when I was coming during my free period and you were helping me get those books."

Raven looked at him again, "That's my free period too, I'm just used to helping and there isn't another aide at that time."

"…Oh," Sasori said understanding. "Guess that means you're allowed to go anywhere you want forth period."

"It does," Raven said and then yawned while wishing that school didn't start so early.

"…Then you should go to the art room, it's the teacher's prep period so no one else is in there and it's completely quiet to work," he said.

"I could," she said.

"Yeah, you should," he said.

"What class are you supposed to be in anyway?" Raven asked.

"Me? I'm in the Advanced Arts 4 class, we get to work on whatever we want, but I thought I'd work on my final project some more," Sasori said. "I was actually hoping to have enough done to show you later today, I do need to have at least two people proof it after all," he explained.

"There's no hurry to get it done now, it's not due until near the end of the year," Raven reminded.

"I know, but the puppets are going to take up a lot of time already, I just want the boring paperwork out of the way first."

Raven nodded. "What class do you have next?" she asked.

"…Interrogation/Observation two…" he muttered.

"Do you not like it?" she asked, seeing his sudden mood change.

"It's interesting, I'm just not that good at the type of interrogation that's in that class, it's much easier to beat information out of someone than getting into their head and making them tell me," he explained.

"Depends on who you're trying to get the information out of," Raven added.

"You wouldn't happen to be an Interrogation focused student, would you? I could really use some extra help to get a good grade in the class to finish out the minor," he sighed and rested his chin on his hand that was propped up on the table.

"Yeah," she answered.

"What? Seriously?" he said surprised and looking at her.

Raven nodded, "My focuses are Stealth and Interrogation," she said.

"So would you be able to help?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah," she nodded. "When we have time."

"You are a lifesaver, Raven," he laughed. She drew her attention back to her notebook to hide her faint blush. She was never good at taking complements.

"It's nothing," she muttered.

The next period, Raven met up with Suki again in their Adv. Ninjutsu Arts class. It was boring. They listened to the lecture and then read silently out of their books, so no actual ninjutsu practice today. Five minutes before the classes was let out, everyone was packing up their bags and getting ready to leave. The teacher let them talk during this time, so Suki picked up from where she left off this morning and continued to tell Raven about when Itachi called her last night.

Soon all four took their seats in their Calculus class. If angles and shapes weren't important in combat, they probably wouldn't be taking this class, though it does offer a lot of prestige to their potential career after high school. Today was a lesson on filling odd shapes with water, or anything else, and not over filling it or under filling it to acquire the desired outcomes in most liquid-based ninjutsu. With each example, the shapes became more odd and irregular, taking more and more time to come to the answer. Tonight's assignment was going to be long and tedious. At the end of the lecture, the four talked until the bell rang and they were allowed to go to lunch.

The guys met up with their friends while Raven and Suki talked.

"I think you should hang out with Sasori more, there might be something between you two," Suki said.

Raven just shrugged, "I think we've spent enough time together, and besides, nothing's going to happen if I know next to nothing about him."

"I'm sure you know lots of things about him already!" Suki said. "I'd say you're practically friends with the way you're both so casual around each other, even I can see you like the same things."

"I can see we have things in common too," Raven admitted.

"So what's it going to take for you to like him?" Suki asked, truly curious.

"I don't know," Raven answered somewhat truthfully.

Suki sighed in irritation. "Maybe you should just try to like him and see if it turns into anything, it might work out and if it doesn't, you'll know for sure that he's not your type." Suki said and Raven sighed in defeat, Suki could tell that Raven was giving in and a smile came to her face. "Okay?"

"I guess I just go along with it and wait and see, but it'll be up to him to initiate, he might just want to be friends," Raven said.

"Oh, he wants to be more than friends," Suki nodded with a big smile.

On the other end of the hall, the guys were also talking.

"Whoa, how'd you get so much of your project done, yeah?" Deidara whined as he looked over at Sasori's pile of papers that he was working on again.

"I worked on it over the weekend," Sasori said.

Itachi leaned over to talk to them as well, "I heard that you had Raven help you," Itachi smirked.

A huge grin came over Deidara as Sasori froze. "How did you know about that?" Sasori questioned. Itachi just shrugged and turned back to Kisame. Sasori glared at the back of the Uchiha's head. While Sasori didn't mind that Itachi knew about it, he did not want Deidara knowing about it.

"Help you? With what exactly?" Deidara sniggered.

"The project, Deidara," Sasori glared, but Deidara had already started cracking up, so Sasori continued to glare.

"Tobi is happy that Sasori is working so hard!" Tobi said happily.

"At least you understand, Tobi," Sasori said.

"Has Sasori kissed her yet?" Tobi asked just as happily, and his notepad from Friday came out again so he could continue taking notes on the "teenaged mating ritual".

Sasori just rested his forehead in his hands and sighed. He wondered why everyone had to pick on him about this. "Shut up," he said bored with this before focusing on his work again.

When lunch ended Sasori went straight to the art room. Peace and quiet was what the room offered and it was just what he wanted. He liked the library too, but people going in and out can be distracting. Sasori wondered what the chances were that he could have met Raven sooner if he frequented the library more. It was only the second week of winter term, and he had already spent more time with her than he often does with Deidara or Itachi. Not that he was complaining about that, not at all. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he actually enjoyed her company more than just about everyone else. If he had to get a date for something, he'd probably choose her just for their friendship and ability to connect.

Sasori made a mental note to ask to be on her team for this spring's survival hiking trip. He really didn't want to get stuck with Deidara and Tobi like last fall's trip. Itachi was there too in the fall, but by the end of the trip, they were both ready to murder the younger guys. They can only handle those two in small doses as it is.

Sasori's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door open as someone else entered the art room. He looked up to see who it was and just about laughed when he saw Raven. He had nearly forgot that he told her this morning that she should come to the art room on her free period sometime, he just didn't think her visit would be so soon. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Sasori asked lightly.

"It was your suggestion," Raven said flatly, thinking that he did not mean what he said earlier.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know, I just didn't think you'd come today," he said.

"Why not?" she asked. Sasori just shrugged and then pointed to the seat across from him at the table he was working at. She nodded and sat down. "It does seem quiet in here," Raven noted.

"Yeah. Is it too quiet?"

She shook her head. "No, everything's nice," she smiled. He smiled too before they both went back to work.

When that class ended, they silently went to their Senior's Ninja Training class together. When they got there, they saw Itachi and Suki, who just shared a quick hug before parting to the locker rooms. After signing in, Raven quickly entered the girl's locker room. As she did this, she heard a few other girls jealously gossiping that Itachi Uchiha was no longer single. Raven smirked as she stepped to her locker next to Suki's and tapped on Suki's shoulder before leaning in. "You've made new enemies," Raven whispered in a playful tone.

"What? Oh no!" Suki gasped. "Why?"

"There seems to be some broken hearts over Itachi," Raven whispered again and gestured the girls that were talking before.

Suki pouted for a moment. "Too bad," she huffed and then giggled and Raven chuckled.

After a good taijutsu training workout, the girls got ready to leave. Suki was all done for the day now besides her free period, so she was planning on heading home early because there wasn't going to be any cheer practice today. Of course, she planned on doing one little thing in secret before leaving the school for the day.

Raven and the guys still had their last class of Adv. Hist/Govt. It seemed to drag on forever and Raven mentally cursed whoever decided to only offer this class in the last period of the day, it was one of the most boring classes ever. The second Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire did this and that which affected this and that which later caused this and that. The first Kazekage of the Sand led a ninja army of an approximate number to certain places to accomplish this and that which caused this and that, but also caused this and that… it was dry and boring.

As Raven hurriedly took notes during the lecture, she caught a moment to look at the clock and saw that there was thankfully only five minutes left. Then a few minutes later, the teacher ended the lesson so they could pack up and get ready to leave. All the students cracked their knuckles and stretched their backs now that they got the chance.

The bell rang and Raven quickly went to her locker and left the school just as quickly. As she left the school grounds, she could have sworn she heard someone say her name, but since she didn't recognize the voice, she assumed that it was actually someone else's name, but sounded alike.

"Raven! Hold on!" Sasori ran to catch up.

"Oh, Sasori, it was you," Raven said when she stopped and he caught up.

"There's something I should show you," he said.

"Like what?" she asked.

"It's a surprise," he smirked. "Just come with me."

She was skeptical but walked with him since she was curious. About halfway to his house, he led her down an alleyway. This made her uncomfortable, so she remained alert.

"Just as I thought, it's still here," Sasori said and he bent down to pick up something that was inside an open cardboard box. "I got an 'autonomous' tip that you might like this," he said and held up a dark brown kitten.

Raven just looked at it, back at Sasori, then at the kitten again. She was confused and not sure what she was supposed to think or do and he wasn't saying anything else. Then the kitten mewed and Raven blushed. Sasori suppressed a snigger.

"C-can I hold it?" she asked shyly and offered her hands.

Sasori gave the kitten to her and she held it close and stroked its little head. It was very tame. "I found it here yesterday, gave it some food. I don't think it belongs to anyone, at least not anymore, because its not in the best of shape, though it's looking better today since I gave it food yesterday and this morning when I checked on it on my way to school," Sasori explained.

"Are you going to keep it?" Raven asked.

"I don't think I can, my Grandma is weird about pets," he said.

"T-than you think I can take it?" she asked.

He smiled, finding her sweet and innocent at the moment. "Yeah, and if you want, but I can help if you'd like, I would keep it myself if I could."

She nodded. "Ninja will have a new friend," she giggled.

"Ninja?" he repeated.

"My cat, her name is Ninja," she laughed.

He laughed too. "Ninja huh? Then this one should be called Shinobi."

Raven laughed. "Yeah, that's a great idea!" She then looked down at the kitten, "So Shinobi, would you like to come home with me? I'd understand if you don't." The kitten just tucked its head into her jacket. Raven turned around to leave the alley and started home. Sasori followed, though he didn't really get an answer on whether she wanted his help or not.

On the way to her place, they talked about the kitten and what she was going to do about training it, while making jokes and laughing at the same time. Sasori noted the route they took to get there, and noticed that it was actually only five minutes away from where he lives, but they were likely to take different ways to get to school.

When Raven got home, she noticed Suki peaking through her window as Raven and Sasori stepped up to the door and she realized that Sasori's 'autonomous tip' about her semi-secret affection for kittens wasn't so autonomous after all. Suki gave Raven a quick wink before letting the curtain fall and disappearing into her own apartment. Raven quickly unlocked the door and stepped inside.

"Would you close the door?" she asked her visitor, and he did before following her through the neatly kept apartment to the living area just past the kitchen from the doorway. "There we go," she said as she placed Shinobi on the couch and stroked its head and back. "This little one does look a little skinny, I'll get some of Ninja's special wet food ready, you can make sure Shinobi doesn't wander into anything it shouldn't, kay?"

"Yeah," he nodded and slipped off his shoulder bag and let it drop to the floor while he played with the kitten who wanted to sniff everything.

"Come here kitten," Raven said as she placed a dish on the floor near the kitchen. Shinobi seemed to understand as the kitten quickly went to the dish to eat.

"So where's Ninja?" Sasori asked from his place sitting on the floor in front of the couch.

"Probably hiding from you in my room," she said. "She doesn't like strangers much."

"She'll get used to me, that or Shinobi will get all the attention when I'm around," he said.

Raven thought his wording was funny so she chuckled a bit. It sounded as though he was planning on coming here often. Then the silence that followed got awkward. Really awkward. They both shifted uncomfortably as they directed their attention to the kitten.

Sasori took a few seconds to look around the apartment. There wasn't much to it, but it was actually more than enough for just one petite woman. By the front doorway there was a small hall that contained only two doors, which he assumed were the bedroom and bathroom. From the doorway was a wall that separated it from the kitchen to the right, and the rest of the apartment was just beyond that as the somewhat spacious living area he was currently standing in. The only thing at separated the kitchen from the living area was a snack bar with a couple stools, and there was tiled flooring in the kitchen while the rest was wood. He looked behind him to the back of the apartment and saw a glass door leading to an enclosed patio. Around him was warm, earthy colors, and the only carpet was in front of the couch under a dark wood coffee table. There was a TV, a bookshelf, another comfy chair, and a small table with a few chairs closer to the kitchen. Everything was quite clean, especially for a teenager. He also noticed it how smelled like her.

"This is a nice place you've got," Sasori commented.

"Thanks," she said. "Suki lives next door, her place is the same as this, just flipped," she added.

"That's cool that you're friends with your neighbor," he said casually as he looked at some pictures on the wall. Some was artwork, then he saw one of a slightly younger Raven and Suki in front of the high school. They looked kind of silly, like they were having fun. Sasori has barely seen Raven smile or laugh much, she seemed to be serious or focused on something all the time, it was nice to confirm that she can be silly too. Then there was a picture of three girls, he recognized the youngest one to be Raven. "What's this?" he asked, still looking at the picture.

Raven had to look at what he was doing to understand what he was referring to. "That is a picture of me and my sisters," she said.

"You're the youngest?" he asked.

"Yeah," she confirmed. He wanted to ask where they were, but since everyone around here has lost family in war or other ways, he was afraid that would be the case again and he didn't want to bring it up if he didn't have to. "They're far away," she said, somewhat answering his mental question. Though it only made him think of many more questions. Like where exactly? How long has she been alone? What are they doing and why? Why is she here and not with them?

"Interesting," he said and turned back to her.

"That's a good kitten," Raven cooed to Shinobi who finish cleaning his dish before gently picking up the kitten and putting it on the couch again. Shinobi sniffed the cushion before finding the perfect place to lay down. Shinobi had sleepy eyes, so it was only a matter of time before it would go to sleep.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Sasori asked as he sat on the floor in front of Shinobi and Raven.

"I'm pretty sure a boy," she said. "Which means he'll need to be fixed in a few months," she added. "He appears to be about three months old."

"Yeah? You really are good with cats," he chuckled. "I didn't have a clue…I mean I knew it was a kitten, but that was about it."

"And it's brown," Raven added with a snigger.

Sasori laughed. "Yeah, I knew that too," he laughed again, "I'm not colorblind."

She laughed a bit more. "Oh yeah, do you want something to drink or anything?"

"Nah, I'm okay," he said and looked back at Shinobi, who was losing the battle of staying awake and his eyes kept shutting and his little face would drop to the couch cushion. "I will lay down on your floor here," he said and laid down in the place he was sitting so be was between the couch and the coffee table.

"There's another seat on the couch and a recliner right there, you know," she said.

"I know, but this rug is actually pretty comfortable," he said placing one arm behind his head. "What are you doing for your senior project anyway?" he asked. She knew nearly every detail about his now, and yet he didn't know a thing about hers.

"I'm working on a training simulation research project that uses a combination of genjutsu and technology to create virtual training simulations that are safer to use than actual training missions where people with potential could get hurt," she explained.

"That sounds pretty cool, I don't know of anyone else doing something like that," he commented.

"Me neither," she said. "Are you sure you're okay on the floor?"

"Yep, I'm great down here, you should try it sometime," he smirked. Then he looked over and saw a comic book on the shelf under the coffee table. He reached over and picked it up so he could look at it. "The latest issue of The Return of Mysterion, huh? I remember you getting this last week when we were at the comic book store," he said.

"Yeah?" she responded.

"I'm going to read this, if you don't mind," he said as he stood up. He looked like he was going towards the recliner but then he stepped passed that and leaned on the wall in front of a window. Raven was beginning to wonder if he didn't like the seats available. Standing up, she joined him in front of the window so she could look over the comic book as well while he read. He was few pages in. "Do you ever scrutinize the artwork while reading comic books?" he asked.

"All the time," she answered. "Critique too."

He chuckled. "The Return of Mysterion isn't supposed to have very good artwork," he reminded.

"Yeah, I look for things like missing details, shadow placement, and eye directions," she said.

"Really?" he laughed. "Me too, the directions of the eyes in this comic can be hilarious," he added.

He read several more pages when a fluffy black cat snuck into the room. "There's Ninja," Raven said as she leaned down and called the cat to her, "Come on, Ninja," she said. Ninja came closer until she really noticed Sasori and ducked her head down to sniff the air around her. Obviously deciding it was okay, she went to Raven who picked her up. "That's a good kitty," Raven said and stroked Ninja's fur. Ninja gave a purring meow at Sasori to get his attention, so he patted her head. "I think she likes you," Raven smiled.

Sasori looked away to hide a faint blush. "Good, then she'll be okay when I come over again," he said.

Raven laughed softly and also blushed slightly while looking away. "Yeah," she said. She found it strange that he was so direct about his intention to come here again, but she found it more strange that she didn't mind that idea.

They stood in silence for a minute while Sasori continued to read and then Raven moved to sit in the recliner with Ninja. Not long after Sasori was done with the comic book and he had discussed it with Raven while petting both cats, he decided he should get home.

Barely even a minute after Sasori left, Suki arrived with a huge smile on her face. "How'd it go?" Suki asked hopefully.

"It was fine, he found this cat and I'm going to keep it," Raven said.

"Awww," Suki's hands came to her cheeks. "He really does like you!"

"Maybe," Raven said.

"Do you think he'll ask you out?"

"No idea, maybe," Raven shrugged.

"Is he going to come back to visit the kitten?"

"Yeah."

Suki giggled. "That means you'll get to spend time alone with him, so lucky!" Raven just sighed and shook her head. While she was warming up to the idea of romance, she was still ready for it to be left up in the air and nothing to happen, since that seems to be what happens most of the time. She doesn't feel the need for romance, a new friend is just as good.

Sasori was on his way home, he hadn't been at Raven's place long, but he felt that if he stayed much longer he might be invading her space and personal time. He planned on visiting again so he could help out with the kitten, since he was the one that found it and showed it to her. He made a mental note to buy a cat teaser toy to take over there. During the last couple days, he had been wondering what he was going to do with that cat. It wasn't until he found a strange note in his locker that it came to him. All the note said was, 'Raven likes art, donuts, and kittens. Good luck!' in pink pen. So then he decided to show Raven the cat. She seemed willing to help with everything else, why not with a homeless animal? Though when he thought of that, he didn't actually think she'd keep the kitten herself, but it does put his mind at ease knowing the kitten will be taken well care of.

As he walked he chuckled to himself as he remembered how shy and flustered she became. Seeing that she has a cute side was very strange at first, but he kind of liked that she was that way. Made her all the more intriguing.

Sasori still had a small smile on his face when he got home. Chiyo noticed instantly before he even closed the door behind him. "What's got you in such a good mood?" she asked her grandson.

"What? Nothing," he said quickly, his serious and bored look forcibly returning as he ventured to the refrigerator for a snack. When he turned around, he almost missed that his grandmother was now standing only a couple feet away from him due to the fact that he is so much taller than her and could see right over her. "What?" he asked irritably and looking down at her.

"You smell like a women," she smiled.

"Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically and tried to get away.

"Wait," Chiyo stopped him. "Were you with a woman?"

"That would explain it," Sasori said bored.

"Was it intimate?"

Sasori just happened to be taking a drink at that moment and began to choke when Chiyo said that. "W-what? Where did you even get that idea! No!"

"Well you looked like a very happy man when you stepped through that door, what could have possibly caused that?"

"I just had a good day, do you have to make it into something perverted?"

"Yes," she laughed, "You're too easy to rile up," she laughed more. Sasori just glared and went to his room.

After dark, Itachi was on the phone with Suki. "Really, you did that?" Itachi laughed when Suki told him about the note she gave Sasori. "I saw him looking at it all weird when school ended, I would have never guessed it was from you," he said.

"I thought it might give them a little push," Suki said.

"I don't think they need a push, they seem to be working it out on their own pretty well if you ask me," Itachi said.

"Well yeah, but they're going so slow!" Suki complained.

"If there's one thing I know about Sasori, he's pretty good at analyzing everything before making a move, but trust me, when he does, things will fall right into place for them," Itachi said.

"You sound so sure."

"I am sure, Sasori talks about her a lot so I know he is thinking a lot about it. He just has to decide what the best course of action is and then he'll put it into motion."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I will have to ask Sasori what exactly he did at Raven's place, he'll go nuts," Itachi laughed.

"You guys pick on each other so much!" Suki sighed but laughed.

The two talked for awhile longer until Itachi realized that he had to get off the phone and finish his homework. This led to them telling each other to hang up first but neither one of them doing it.

"No you hang up first," Itachi said for the umpteenth time.

"You hang up first," Suki said, but this time she actually heard the click of him hanging up. She just shrugged and put the phone down.

Itachi heard the click too and looked over to see Sasuke pushing down the hook switch button on the phone. Itachi glared angrily at his brother. Sasuke knew that he was at risk to having the phone's receiver cord wrapped around this throat and used to strangle him, but he could not take it anymore, and decided it was worth the risk to hang up for him. Sasuke wisely didn't say a word and quickly turned around and speedily walked away.

Itachi gritted his teeth as he put the phone away on its base. Stupid prick little brother. Itachi went to his room to finish his homework, which didn't take as long as he thought it would, so he watched TV with him mom and Sasuke for awhile.

There wasn't much time left before winter break for the holidays started. Only this week was left and then two and a half weeks off. Itachi indented to spend as much of it with his friends and Suki as he could. He could train anytime, and knowing his father, it was probably going to be insisted upon him, that or help Sasuke with his training.

Itachi decided that Friday would be a good day to spend with Suki after school. So in case anything came up, he would at least get to start off winter break with her. Hopefully she wasn't going away for the holidays right away and he would get this Friday with her. Since it was only Monday, they still had all week to make plans. Everything was going pretty smoothly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Looks like things are moving along quite nicely for the high school seniors, no?

About the phone at the end, I remembered that Naruto appears to have some of the most random bits of technology and well, lack-of-technology (no cars but trains [1st movie], no guns yet but hovercrafts [a shippuden movie]). So I imagine some things are heavily 1990s (80s?) style-ish, so not really any cellphones, main phones with (awesome-curly-must-fiddle-with) cords, tube TVs, no/little computing or internet... Which is why I never say this is a "modern" Naruto story. Being weird about writing AUs, I wanted to try to have as much as possible relate to the actual series, but still make it a fluffy/funny high school fic... If that made any sense at all... If you understood that, let me know if it's okay.


	6. Another Cloudy Night

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 6: Another Cloudy Night

The refreshing winter break of the second trimester finally arrived Friday afternoon. Only two weeks into the new term, and the three week break had begun after the first round of tests of the term. Most of the week had been spent studying for those tests, and the next unit in the curriculum will begin when everyone returns in January.

Many of the students were traveling for the holidays, so many of the guys were not going to be around for a while. Kisame was going back to Kirigakure to visit his friends and family. Deidara was going back to Iwagakure to see his sister. Hidan had to return to Yugakure for some religious ceremonies that he can only do there this time of year. Konan and Pain were planning on staying in Amegakure with an old friend they haven't seen since their old school was flooded.

As for Sasori, he was staying here with his grandmother and his granduncle and their extended family and family friends who were coming to visit. Itachi was staying behind with his family while other Uchiha that lived far away were coming to visit them. No one knew what Tobi was doing. Tobi claimed he was going to go to the north pole and ask Santa for a job making toys with the elves. They're not sure if he was joking or not.

"Wow, so basically everyone is leaving!" Suki said to Itachi.

"Yeah, what about you, Suki? Are you going anywhere for the holidays?" Itachi asked with a faint blush as he scratched the back of his head. He had been hoping she would be staying in town during break.

"Nope, I'm staying here!" Suki smiled. "I'm glad you're staying here too, cause then I'll have someone to hang out with."

Itachi briefly turned red. "Haha, yeah… actually, that brings to mind something I'm supposed to ask you…" he trailed off nervously, but was getting cold feet.

"Oh, there's Raven. Raven!" Suki called out to her friend who made her way down the hall as the other students talked with their friends, said their goodbyes for break, and tried to leave the school. Sasori was only a few paces behind her as he followed.

"Hey," she greeted, "What's up?"

"Itachi was just telling me that almost everyone is going away for winter break," Suki said.

"Is Itachi staying in town?" Raven asked, glancing at Itachi in case he wanted to answer himself, but he seemed to be thinking.

"Yep!" Suki cheered. "So when you're gone, I'll just hang out with him."

"That's good, I remembered that some family was coming to visit you for a couple days before the holiday, but I won't be back in town until a few days after they leave again, so it's good to know you won't be bored out of your mind without me," Raven chuckled and Suki grinned.

"Where are you going?" Sasori asked Raven. He didn't know she was leaving too.

"Far away," she said vaguely. "It's only for about four days though, so I'll be here most of winter break so I can study," she added. Sasori was actually relieved that she wasn't going to be gone long, and it seemed to be during the time he would have visitors, so he wouldn't get to hang out with Raven then anyway. "Did you guys still want to do anything right now since school is out for break?" Raven suggested, they had made plans to do something, but no actual plans were made.

"Something indoors, I don't want to catch a cold," Suki said.

"How about we get something to eat?" Itachi said.

"Sounds good to me," Sasori agreed.

As they exited the school and descended the stairs, Itachi stopped, nearly causing Raven to bump into him and Suki look over at him questioningly. "Uh, sorry guys, I just remembered I've got to get Sasuke…"

"He can go with us can't he?" Suki asked and Sasori just about face-palmed as his eyes went wide.

"He could, would that be okay?" Itachi asked.

"Sure!" Suki nodded. Raven nodded as well and Sasori just shrugged.

"Okay, I'll go get him, it'll only take a minute."

It really did only take a minute and the Uchiha brothers met up with the other three again as they continued down the block. Sasuke looked incredibly irritated the entire time. Even when they all got some food and got a good place to sit, the kid still had a scowl on his face.

"Geez Sasuke, would you lighten up, you're getting free food out of this," Itachi said to him quietly, though the others still heard it.

"Humph," Sasuke grunted and pointedly looked away.

"What are you so ticked off about?" Itachi tried.

"Nothing," was the only answer. Itachi just rolled his eyes and looked about at the others and shrugged. If Sasuke wanted to be ignored, then that's what's going to happen.

"If you don't mind me asking," Raven started. "Why is he here?"

"Father's orders, since our parents aren't home right now," Itachi explained.

"Oh, so he's mad because he thinks he's being babysat," Raven said then looked at Sasuke, he didn't look back, but he was listening. "Preteens can do stupid stuff when given the chance, you're just hanging out with high-schoolers for an hour, that's usually considered bragging material."

"Whatever," Sasuke said.

"Or are you spying on us?" Raven asked.

Sasuke looked surprised for a moment, and so did Itachi. "That does sound like something Father would make him do," Itachi said and looked at Sasuke suspiciously.

"I'm not spying!" Sasuke said.

"Really? Because that's a much better excuse than just being a prick," Sasori said.

"Hey, Itachi's brother," Raven started.

"It's Sasuke," he said.

"Sosuke, whatever," she continued as the others chuckled when the name was wrong. "Unclench and relax a little, or tell us what's your deal and we'll stop bugging you."

Everyone stared at him for his answer until he broke under the pressure. "Tsk, fine, you were right the first time, I don't need a babysitter and I shouldn't have to impose on my bother's friends," he explained.

"There, done," Raven said and quickly moved the topic of conversation to Shinobi and his training. Sasori planned to come visit the kitten tomorrow so he can work with him all day.

A little after they were done, they all went home for to relax, do chores, and also homework before calling it a day. Three weeks of no school is always something to look forward to and they certainly weren't going to waste it.

The next morning Sasori got to sleep in later than normal for two reasons. The first being that it was Saturday, and the second being his grandmother didn't come home last night, so she must have stayed with her brother. If he wasn't up by eight or maybe nine at the latest, she would have awoken him herself. Nearing ten in the morning, Sasori woke up with only fragments of a rather awkward dream left behind in his conscious. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to remember the rest but found that task futile before his physical needs became his priority. Having woke up late, he was starving so he was ready to eat amounts that only a young man could eat in one sitting.

Itachi was also able to sleep in. That was something he found rather odd, since normally someone would come bother him about something. Not this time though, he woke up on his own accord. When he went downstairs he was greeted by his mother in the kitchen and he had a simple breakfast at the table where Sasuke was watching TV. Seemed Tailed Demons was going to become an animated series based on a preview, he wondered if Sasori already knew about it since that was one of the stories he was keeping up on. Itachi planned to call Suki later when he gets bored, since they had talked about doing something today. Probably something simple, like hanging out and watching TV.

When Sasori was ready to go a little after noon when he planned to head out, he left a note for his grandma letting her know that he was going to be gone all day so she wouldn't be worried when she comes home and he isn't there. After leaving it on the table, he left to go to Raven's.

As he traveled along the street, he tried to make sure he wouldn't miss her apartment. He didn't miss it at all, but when he stepped up to the pathway leading up to the building, he saw Itachi approaching from the other direction at the same time. They stopped and looked at each other in silence.

"Hey," they both said somewhat awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" Itachi asked.

"Raven lives here, we're going to train that new cat," Sasori said.

"Oh yeah," Itachi said as he remembered that they talked about it the day before. "I didn't realize that Raven and Suki were neighbors."

Sasori scratched the back of his neck. This was way more awkward than it had to be, and he wasn't sure why. They both prayed that the walls between the two apartments weren't paper-thin because they really didn't want to be hearing each others conversations or anything else for that matter. "See you later," Sasori said as he decided to step up to Raven's door. Itachi did the same, stepping up to Suki's door, and together they each knocked and waited for the answer.

The waiting was really awkward for the guys. They both glanced at each other and back at the doors. It felt like they were waiting for someone to answer the door for minutes, when in reality it was only seconds. They looked at the trees, the grass, their own hands and feet while they waited, trying to keep from being so awkward, but unknowingly making the tension worse.

Raven answered her door first, and she simply stepped aside to let Sasori inside, which he did quickly. As soon as the door was closed behind him, Suki opened her door and greeted Itachi.

"Hey Itachi!" she said as she led him inside.

"I'm glad that you invited me," he said as he slipped off his shoes, and looked at her apartment.

The entryway was simple and to the right was two doors, one open directly to the right. Itachi took a quick glance as he passed and saw it was the bathroom. On the adjacent wall was a closed door with Suki's name in bright pink letters. The kitchen was to the left of the entryway on the other side of a wall separating it from the entryway. The floor was all a light wood except the tile in the kitchen area. Just passed the snack bar was a small square table with four chairs and just beyond that was a desk against the same wall. The living area had a large pastel violet rug and contained a couch with end tables and a chair on each end of the couch with a TV and small bookshelf on the back wall that faced the rest of the apartment. Long girly curtains hung over the windows and the sliding glass door in the back right corner. The apartment was decorated in pastel colors of yellow, blue, purple, green, pink, and beige. The walls and shelves were decorated with various knick knacks, trinkets, and pictures. Most of the photos were of Suki and Raven, but Itachi noticed a few from when Suki was younger that included a medium sized family of six and Suki being the youngest of her three siblings in the photos.

"I'm glad you could come," Suki said as he eyed the photos. "Would you like some lemonade?"

"Sure," he nodded and followed her back to the kitchen area. He wasn't surprised that it was pink lemonade. They then both sat down at the snack bar so they could talk over their drinks for a bit. "Has the cheer team been doing okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, the new girls are learning quick," Suki started. "Raven helped me and the other senior cheerleaders make a learning video for the main dances, that way we can take turns giving actual lessons, and the rest can condition and workout, maybe even come up with new dances."

"Sounds interesting, did Raven dance too?" Itachi couldn't exactly imagine that stoic face as a cheerleader, but he did not know Suki's friend very well so he wanted to clarify.

"She held the camera and edited the video before giving us a tape for the squad," Suki explained. "Soon the whole team can start practicing and performing together with how hard everyone has been practicing."

"Just in time for winter sports," Itachi noted.

"Yep," Suki nodded. "You should come to the meets so you can see us perform at least once."

"Yeah," Itachi smiled, then thought about watching her dance in the cheerleading uniform and blushed slightly. "So you said on the phone that we were going to just chill and relax for the day, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, when I want to kick back for a while, I just watch TV, or read some magazines and do the quizzes inside them," she said.

"That sounds good, what do you like to watch on TV?" he asked.

She stood up and made her way over the couch where the remote was sitting so she could pick it up and turn on the TV. She then listed off a number of shows and movies they could watch. Itachi didn't really care what they watched, he was just glad to be close to her. When he followed her to the couch and sat beside her, they ended up talking more again instead of watching TV. There seemed to be a million things they could talk about and in her company he could talk forever and not get bored easily.

Soon Itachi was describing some of his training with Sasuke. "There's a move in taijutsu where you have to hit your opponent repeatedly in rapid succession in the same place on the side," he pointed her stomach. "I think on you it would be about here," he said while touching his fingers to a place on the side of her waist. "So guard that area," he added.

Suki giggled softly. "That kind of tickled," she said.

Itachi chuckled lightly. "The sides can be a ticklish area outside of battle," he then smiled and quickly ran his fingers upwards on her side, making her jump and laugh.

"Don't do that!" she laughed. He smirked and did it again but this time to her other side. She laughed and tried to guard her sides while taking a playful defensive position while still seated on the couch.

But Itachi liked the challenge. From here he basically attacked her, his fingers poised for tickling and he was easily able to sweep passed her defenses and she laughed and half-heartily tried to block and push his hands away. When she blocked with her legs, he pushed them back down and moved closer as she moved back.

"It's not fair!" she laughed, and then she attacked him back. Itachi's eyes went wide when her hands came after him. Even though he was dodging and blocking her hands, he was still laughing from amusement.

Throughout their game they fell back onto the floor from when she tried to escape but he caught her. They were both laughing until Itachi finally had her arms pinned with his own and their tickle war finished as their laughter died down as they caught their breaths.

"Itachi?" Suki started with a blush.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You can let me up now," she said and in that moment his whole face went completely red as realized that he was kneeling above her while holding down her arms, her body sprawled out under him. He hurriedly let her go and stood up before helping her back up to the couch. Suki laughed a little again at his embarrassment. "You would like some more lemonade?" she offered.

"Y-yeah, thank you," he said with a smile, his face not so red now as his mind cleared of dirty thoughts. Then he remembered that Sasori and Raven were just on the other side of the wall and depending on how insulated that wall is, they could probably hear them laughing their heads off and were getting the wrong idea of what was happening. Itachi decided to not get anymore bright ideas and make sure he stayed quiet the rest of his visit.

Suki brought him his drink and sat down again and they both directed their attention to the TV and drank their pink lemonade. Itachi soon remembered what he was going to ask Suki yesterday after school.

"Uh Suki?" he started and put down his drink.

"Yeah?"

"There something I was going to ask you about earlier, I mean yesterday…"

"Oh yeah, I forgot all about that, sorry, what were you going to say?" she said.

"Well, you see… my mom… and well me too… wanted to know if you would like… to visit us around or on the holiday?" he asked.

"Um sure, how about Christmas afternoon? My visiting relatives and siblings will be leaving Christmas Eve and I don't want to intrude on your family's Christmas morning," Suki answered with a blush. She was surprised that he had asked her to his house, and that he and his mother had talked about it.

He smiled warmly at her, "I'm sure that will be just fine."

The look he was giving her made her blush again. It was so warm and affectionate. How she wished he would talk about his feelings towards her. Were these feelings the real thing? Was this an infatuation, just an intense but short-lived and irrational passion for her that would disappear as soon as his head left the clouds? Something about the way he just looked at her told her that it just could not be the latter. That thought alone made her heart leap and her stomach do flips.

Suki looked over at Itachi next to her on the couch. He was now taking a long drink from his lemonade. She watched the way his throat moved as he swallowed for a second before looking away bashfully. "Want to watch a movie now?" she asked.

Itachi put his cup down again as he swallowed. "Yeah," he said and so she started the movie. They talked a bit more throughout the movie, but this time their attention was mostly on the TV instead of each other.

Sasori and Raven took a break from training Shinobi. The kitten was starting to get tired again, so he wasn't learning as well anymore as it drew closer to his next nap time.

"This is actually kind of fun," Sasori commented from his place on the floor where he was holding Shinobi. "I bet he thinks we've been playing with him all day," he added.

Raven laughed softly. "Yeah, that's the idea," she said. Looking at the clock she saw it was already a little after five. "Now that it's his nap time again, do you want to eat something?"

"That sounds great," Sasori said as he felt his stomach gurgle a bit. He had forgotten all about food since he got here. He had some earl grey tea and a cookie when he got here, but now it was getting close to dinner time anyway. He probably should have gone home for dinner, but he wasn't quite ready to leave yet.

"Okay, I'll make something," she said and opened the fridge. "Are you allergic to anything?"

Sasori tilted his head to the side, his mind still processing that fact that she was going to cook, and cook for him. "Uh no, I don't have any food allergies," he answered.

She closed the refrigerator again and brought her finger to her lips as she thought about what she should make. "Do you like pasta?"

"Yeah, all kinds," he said. Raven nodded and got to work as she pulled out a pot, pan, and a glass dish with a lid, then she moved to fill the pot with water to begin heating it up for the noodles. "Can I help?" he offered.

"It's fine," she said. "You keep them company and don't let them into the kitchen," she gestured the cats, Ninja and Shinobi.

"Alright," he said and then pet them both, but continued to watch Raven move about the kitchen as she prepared whatever she was making. A few minutes later, he could hear and smell beef being browned in the pan. The smell and the sizzle sounds made him feel even more hungry. He wasn't sure what beef had to do with pasta, but he was sure it could only be good.

After about twenty more minutes, she had prepared two plates of spaghetti with meat sauce and parmesan cheese and a side of buttered green beans and a wheat roll. "It's all done," she said as she set the plates on the table just outside the kitchen area. He looked over as she was setting down some eating utensils and then she moved back to the kitchen.

He took a seat at the table as she shuffled around in the refrigerator again. "Is apple cider okay?" she asked.

"Of course," he nodded and she brought the cider to the table so he could take as much as he wanted.

"All I have left besides this is tea, so I hope it's okay," she said.

"It's fine," he said. "It looks really good, you better have not gone out of your way to make this," he added.

"It's fine," she laughed. "Did you have a problem with the wait?" she asked. She had looked over and saw him fidgeting while she was cooking so she assumed he was getting impatient.

"Oh, maybe a little, but I'm just an impatient guy," he said. "But since it's you I was waiting for, it wasn't so bad."

"Oh?"

Sasori felt his face heat up a little. "Yeah, since you're so patient and you were going as fast as you probably could already, there was really no reason for me to get impatient, the cats kept me occupied too," he said.

Raven smiled softly. "Alright," she said.

While in the presence of another person, she ate much slower and neater than she normally would. Sasori was also eating much neater than he would if he was alone, but that was because he was in the presence of a woman in her home. He was still eating pretty fast since he was hungry. One of the things about being an eighteen year old guy is having a near bottomless pit for a stomach. Though by the time he was finished he was surprisingly pretty full. He wasn't expecting the meal to be so filling, and it was so good too, there was no way he wouldn't finish all of it. He made sure to tell her that he liked it several times throughout the meal.

She laughed softly, "I'm glad that it suited your tastes."

"Don't be surprised if show up for dinner a lot from now on," he laughed. He wasn't really going to do that, but he sure wished he could.

"Guess that means I need to keep up on the grocery shopping a little better," she added with a chuckle. Ninja jumped up into Raven's lap and sat neatly to lick her paw before yawning. "I think training is done for the day, Shinobi is still napping too," Raven noted. "You want to just hang out for a while?"

"Yeah," Sasori nodded and then stifled a yawn, the meal had made him sleepy so just chilling for a bit seemed like a good idea.

They moved over to the living area and he sat down on the couch instead of the floor for once as she turned on the TV. "Did you see the preview for Tail Demons? It's going to be an animated series soon," Sasori said.

"I did," Raven answered as she sat on the other end of the couch, "I hope that the voice acting is good," she said.

"Me too," he nodded. "I heard the soundtrack is going to be pretty good," he said.

"Yeah? I heard the animation was going to be good too," she added. "Overall, I'm look forward to the show."

"Same here," he said. They talked about the upcoming series for awhile until their attention was directed towards the TV for a bit.

"Hey, no," Raven said and Sasori looked over to see Ninja trying to get on her lap, but Raven didn't want the cat on her lap right now so she pushed her away. Ninja persisted but was being denied.

The next time Ninja put her paws up on Raven's knees, she found that the red-head put his head down on her master's lap instead. The cat looked at him confused for a long time. "Sorry, this lap his occupied," Sasori said smugly to the cat. Ninja seemed to pout, but retreated and jumped on the recliner chair nearby.

"Finally," Raven sighed. "I didn't want her bathing on me, once she starts she doesn't want to stop," she said.

Sasori chuckled and remained where he was, it was actually quite comfortable, he could see why cats like it so much. It was elevated, warm, and was he getting scratched behind the ear? She had rested her hand on him and out of habit moved a couple of her fingers through his hair on the side of his head. She didn't even notice she was doing it yet. He thought it was actually quite nice and his eyes seemed to close of their own accord.

It was a while before it really dawned on him that he was resting on a woman's lap. This was one of things that couples would do. He blushed on that thought. Though now that he was thinking about it, they did kind of act like a couple sometimes, and they weren't even going out. They hung out a lot now, talked about anything that came to mind, they even took the seats next to each other yesterday when they all went out to eat after school. He wondered if things would even be different if they were going out, other than the title of boyfriend and girlfriend placed upon them over the term 'just friend'. He had to admit to himself a little, that thought was actually kind of appealing now. Then there was the thought if she would think the same way? But the way her fingers ran through his hair seemed to tell him his answer. He would think about it more, right now he just wanted to relax and stay right there.

Itachi yawned and stretched his limbs before looking over at Suki who was fast asleep cuddled up next to him. He thought that he should get going now, he had no idea what time it was. Gently he moved her from him and laid her down on the couch without waking her up as he stood to his feet.

He found the time on the TV and it said that it was four thirty in the morning. Itachi blinked a few times, unable to believe his eyes. Finding another clock on the wall, it confirmed that the time was indeed four thirty in the morning. He must have fallen asleep too. When he gets home, he is going to be in so much trouble if his parents find out he was out all night long. His return would have to be swift and silent.

Itachi turned off the TV and the few lights that were on as he made his way to the front of the apartment to get his shoes and slipping them back on before tossing his jacket back on. He turned off the last light in the entryway before going outside and silently closing the door behind him. Just as the door closed with a soft click, he heard a duplicate click nearby. Looking over he saw Sasori closing the door to Raven's apartment too.

Their hands were still on the door handles as they looked at each other wordlessly for a long time.

"This isn't what it looks like," they both said and then went silent again as they finally released the door handles. The awkward tension hung thickly around them. For some reason they were afraid to even move while the other's eyes were still upon them. Leaving this late at night, or this early in the morning, certainly didn't look good. What were the odds that they would both arrive and leave this apartment building at the same time?

"We will not speak of this incident to anyone," Itachi said.

"Agreed," Sasori said.

They both stood there awkwardly for a few seconds longer before finally leaving. Both walking next to each other on the pathway back to the street before finally going separate ways.

Itachi ran as swiftly and silently as he possibly could, then used all his knowledge in stealth to sneak into his home and get to his room without so much as a sound. Since changing might make noise, all he did was slowly remove his clothing so he could get into bed in his underwear. Seemed it was a mission success. Tonight he would sleep soundly with good dreams about his day with Suki.

Sasori got home and opened the door. He found that his grandmother's shoes were not in the entryway so he breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't come home that night. The last thing he wanted at the moment was for his grandmother to find him coming home at such an hour and assume he had been doing naughty things. She seemed to joke about that kind of stuff a lot towards him already, and the last he needs is to give her a reason to think any of it might actually be true. Even when the day comes and he does have sex, he certainly doesn't want his grandma knowing about it, _ever_. Maybe she'll keel over by then and he won't have to worry about it. Somehow he didn't think he would be that lucky.

For now, he was just glad to be home alone and he got ready for bed. When he was at Raven's watching TV, he didn't expect to fall asleep there. Or that he would wake up alone on the couch. He couldn't think of a time he was more relaxed though, so he guessed it wasn't really a surprise. For now he had a lot on his mind. When he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure how much he actually liked Raven. It was probably more than he liked anyone else, that he could be certain of. He would think about it more, maybe give that whole dating thing a shot with her. Now that he thought about it, what they did today was practically a date. It was also a good day. _Interesting_.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So some relationship development here. Seems Sasori is making up his mind now. Sasuke is a brat, nothing new there. And Itachi got away with staying out all night.

Certainly there will some interesting events before winter break is over.

Reviews would be nice.


	7. Among the Rain and Snow

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 7: Among the Rain and Snow

Sasori stood tense and silent. He obviously didn't think this through. His grandmother should have known better than to set him out on such a task. For the twentieth time he looked down at the paper he held tightly in his left hand, hoping the answer he needed would suddenly appear.

The question to the unknown answer sounded simple by itself. "Which one?" he muttered as he stared helplessly at the shelves of bread before him in the grocery store. He looked down at the paper, a simple grocery list, and he was still stuck on finding the first item. Bread. How descriptive. He didn't recognize any of the bagged loaves in front on him as the ones his grandma usually gets. Of course, there must have been a hundred to choose from and he could have easily missed it so he kept checking, again and again.

Sasori watched as other shoppers came and went and easily picked out what they wanted. It wasn't long before he started getting irritated and then angry. To make matters worse, some brat ran into him and fell down. His first reaction was to glare sinisterly at the kid, who instantly ran back to his mother. Sasori didn't mean to glare, he hardly budged at all when the kid collided with his legs, so it's not like it hurt, but if it teaches the kid to not run around the store like a brat, then some good came out of it. He lost his cool for a minute, but now he was back.

He looked at the list, and just about snapped again.

"Why are you everywhere I go?" someone asked nearby.

Sasori halted when he was just getting ready to throw the shopping basket against the floor and looked over to see Raven looking at him amused. "Me? How is it you're everywhere I go?" he retorted, though now he found his calm again.

Raven simply shrugged. "Small towns," she answered. "Or maybe you're a stalker," she smirked before beginning to walk away.

"I am not a stalker," he said as he began to follow after her.

She stopped and faced him again, "Then why are you following me?" she asked and watched as he got flustered and couldn't put together a logical answer.

"We were talking! I wasn't following you like that," he pouted.

She laughed, "I know," she said and turned back to the bread and quickly scanned the shelf she stopped in front of before taking a loaf and placing it in her basket. Then she looked back at him since he was staring. "What?"

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Uh, what?"

Sasori shook his head, realizing how stupid he was appearing. Of course she would know what to buy if she does all her own shopping. "I don't know what to get…" he admitted.

She blinked. "Isn't that a list in your hand?"

Sasori blushed embarrassed. "Well, yeah, but it's not very helpful," he said as he looked at the paper once again.

"If you stare at it long enough, it will tell you more," she said sarcastically and he looked at her annoyed. She sighed, "Well… good luck," she said and began to walk away again.

Sasori sighed to himself. He should have asked her for help, though how could she help? It's not like she would know what his grandmother would buy either. Deciding to just gamble on it, he took a loaf of the same bread she just got. There, done, take that. Finally, one thing off the list. So what's next?

Milk. He could do that, no problem. Sasori went over to the refrigerator section and walked until he found the milk. There was like seven different glass doors that had nothing but different kinds of milk behind them. One percent, two percent, whole, vitamin D, extra pasteurized, lactose free, organic, skim, fat free, protein-enriched, raw, soy, almond, rice, and coconut milk. And then he realized there was also different brands for several types of milk.

What the? His head was spinning. He didn't even know what all of those were. Wasn't all milk the same? What the hell was this rice stuff? And just like that, he was back to his staring contest with the list.

"You're stuck again, aren't you?" Raven said from nearby again. He didn't say anything and just looked at her with pleading eyes. He really didn't want to repeat the bread incident. "Do you need help?" she offered.

He nodded and blushed. This was so embarrassing.

"First, what kind of container are you looking for? Find that section," she instructed. She could tell that he was just overwhelmed and needed a little guidance to figure this out. "Okay good, now just the color of the lid," she said and he cautiously picked out a container of milk and looked at it, trying to remember if it was what was almost empty at home. Cautiously, he placed it in the basket and walked to Raven. She nodded and started on her way now that she was done here.

"Wait," he stopped her. "There's a few more things on the list," he said and held it up.

Raven sighed. "You need help with those too?"

He nodded again and she sighed as she held out her hand for the list. Wordlessly, she went towards the next item on the list. Rice. That was a little easier, since he knew what kind to get from memory, he just didn't know what size package. She told him to get the one he that would fit with the other items so he could carry it home easily. So he got a smaller package.

Sasori continued to follow her around as she got her stuff and helped him find the last couple things from his list before heading to the checkout. He got in line behind her and they set their baskets on the belt with a divider between them. She barely let go of the divider when he pulled her into a tight hug. She wasn't facing towards or away from him, so it left her in a rather awkward position that she couldn't exactly do anything in but wait until he let go.

"If it wasn't for you I'd still be standing by the bread," he chuckled by her ear before letting go.

"Well, you're welcome I guess," she said with a faint blush. She wasn't one for public displays of anything so she was a little embarrassed. They both blushed when the lady in line behind them commented to the person she was with about how cute young couples were when they first get married. They really hoped the lady was talking about something unrelated to them.

After checking out, he hurried to catch up with her outside. She wasn't far since was waiting for him. "So when are you leaving for the holiday?" he asked her.

"In a few days now," she answered.

"Oh," he said and stepped over a puddle on the ground. Not that it mattered much since he was wearing boots, he just didn't want to be kicking up water and make noise or even splash Raven. It had been raining a lot lately, so there were lots of puddles to dodge. It wasn't raining today, but it was still quite cold. So cold that he could see his breath. He had even zipped up his jacket all the way to the top at his chin.

"I have to start preparing for my trip today," Raven added.

"Yeah," he said. He hasn't hung out with her since break started and he was hoping to do it again before she left for the holiday, but if she was going to be busy, he can wait until she returns. Sasori just thought of something he needed to do soon, and realized that he would have to get home quickly. "I'm going to hurry home, I'll see you later!" he waved.

"Bye," she waved before he started off.

The next day Itachi had called up Suki suddenly and asked to meet her at the holiday shopping center that was put up at the park for the holiday gift shopping. There was a lot of unique stuff there and many venders.

Suki had been delighted to do something with him since he had been busy for most of the past several days and she mostly only got to talk to him on the phone in the late evening. She thought this trip was a great idea since she had been having troubles thinking of gifts for her friends.

Both dressed in toasty winter attire, Itachi treated them to some hot tea to walk around with as they browsed and talked. Every so often, they would see something interesting and stop to look at it. They even considered buying a few things, but walked away each time so far. Many of the snacks were much more interesting. They even saw Tobi working at a cart selling ninja masks and masquerade glasses.

Tobi saw them too. "Hiya!" he called out to them as they approached.

"Hi Tobi, what's up?" Suki asked. She actually liked Tobi so she didn't mind stopping to talk to him.

"Tobi likes this one!" he said and put on an orange spiral mask. "So Owner said I can have it if I work the cart today!"

"Can you see with only one eye hole?" Suki asked.

"Tobi can see Suki," he nodded.

"Just be careful and don't run into anything," Itachi said.

"Yes sir!" Tobi saluted.

Soon they stopped at a booth that had hats of all types and colors. Itachi was looking at one thinking what it might like look like on his brother when Suki picked up something. "What do you think of this one, Itachi?" she asked and held up a pink floppy summer hat.

Itachi chuckled as she posed. "It suits you, matches," he said. She smiled and put it back so she could look at some others.

"So what are you going to look for?" Suki asked at another booth they stopped to look at.

"Something for my brother, I thought about eye liner, but decided against it to not encourage his emo tendencies," he joked.

"What does he like?"

"Nothing really," Itachi sighed. "I'm sure I'll figure out something if I keep walking around, if nothing then money is a good gift too."

"He probably wouldn't mind that," Suki nodded.

"Better than getting something he won't like," he added.

A little later they stopped someplace to eat. There were many options to choose from, but they got freshly grilled teriyaki chicken kabobs. The steam warmed their faces as they ate them, only for the moisture to get cold again, but the cooked protein would certainly do them go with such cold weather.

"I wonder if it'll snow this year?" Suki wondered aloud when they started looking around again.

"It might, it's sure cold enough," Itachi said. "I think it will," he added with a charming smiled that made her blush. "Do you like the snow?" he asked as he looked up at the cloudy sky.

She looked up too. "Of course!" she giggled.

Soon they each found some things that would make nice gifts before they decided to head out. Itachi intended on walking her home since it was only a little out of the way.

"Do you still think you can come visit me on the holiday?" Itachi asked.

"Pretty sure," Suki said. "Since I'll be seeing you that day, you have to wait until then to get your gift," she added.

"I think I can handle that," Itachi laughed.

As they reached her apartment, Raven was just leaving hers. "Hey guys," Raven greeted as she passed them on the walkway to the road.

"I got your gift today!" Suki said to her.

"I look forward to it," Raven said. "See you later," she waved before running off.

"Yesterday she mentioned that was going to get something nice for Sasori," Suki giggled as she stepped up to her door, "I think she likes him as much as he likes her," she added.

Itachi was only mildly surprised. "Interesting, I hope it works out between them, maybe when they're together Sasori won't be as awkward about his feelings," he sighed. "For how much he talks about her and then acts around her, it's kind of obvious to the rest of us."

"Yeah, Raven doesn't talk as much about him, but her actions say a lot," Suki nodded. "Do you want to come in for awhile?" she offered.

Itachi shook his head, "No thank you, I should head back as soon as I can," he said and then leaned down to peck her cheek as he wrapped his free arm that wasn't holding his purchases around her in a quick hug. "See ya," he waved as he stepped away to leave.

"Bye-bye," she waved before going inside.

The next day Sasori was locked up inside his room, despite his great uncle being there to visit. Chiyo wondered what he was doing, but didn't press the matter since this wasn't the first time Sasori had done this. When the muse hits him, it tends to attack his mind in a storm and he'll work for hours on end without realizing that he hasn't eaten all day. Knowing this, she made sure that he at least got dinner by reminding him when she was about to make, when it was ready, and then only waiting five minutes before telling him again, He would always come out by then, though he would curse the interruption and his humanly needs of enough food and sleep to function.

Itachi took his brother shopping that day, so they could find something nice for their parents together. Sasuke even got a few small things so he could give them to his teammates. Itachi was relieved to know that the kid was actually bonding with his friends a little and not isolating himself. Itachi knew how much that could suck, though his reasons for being isolated from people his age were not makings of his own choices.

Raven and Suki hung out for a good portion of the day. Then Raven had to finish packing for her leave the next day, and Suki had to clean her apartment for the visitors she'd be expecting soon. That included making sure her laundry was done and put away, the floors near spotless, everything dusted, and remembering to make a quick trip the store soon to make sure she would have snacks and drinks to offer. Wanting her apartment to look extra nice, she had put up some holiday decorations, including a small decorated tree in the living area.

That night everyone went to bed at different hours of the night, but each fell asleep to the sound of rain. As soon as the sun set it started raining and it only grew heavier as each hour passed. Sasori was last to sleep, setting his alarm for early in the morning. He was determined to finish as soon as possible. From his bed he pulled back the curtain of his window to look outside. It was black, he couldn't see anything, but he could hear how heavy the rain was and hoped it would let up by morning. Letting the curtain fall back over the window, he ran his hand through his dirty hair before laying down and pulling the covers over him. It was going to be a cold night.

The next morning Raven had to leave somewhat early to catch the train heading north. The train station wasn't too far away, though it was quite a walk, especially in the heavy rain that never let up from the night before. It was hard to tell that the sun was even on the other side of the clouds. The grayness of the sky was gloomy and made it hard to tell that it was in fact nine in the morning already. She walked with a backpack over her shoulders, a suitcase in one hand, and an umbrella in the other. Good thing it wasn't windy, otherwise the umbrella would be useless and she would be soaked already.

Before the train station, there was one stop she had to make first. Stepping up to Sasori's doorstep, she knocked on the door and waited only a couple second before Chiyo answered the door.

"Hello, is Sasori here?" Raven asked politely, though her face void of any visible emotion.

"He is, but he's busy, what can I do for you instead? Do you need to come inside and wait for him?" she offered.

"No thank you, but could you give him this envelop please? He promised he would take care of something while I am away and this has the instructions he wanted," Raven said and offered the envelop.

"Can do," Chiyo obliged.

"Thank you very much," Raven bowed. "Happy holidays," she said as she lifted the umbrella again and continued on her way.

Chiyo inspected the envelop closely before sighing as she decided Sasori would be angry if she opened it to see what was inside. Heading down the hall to Sasori's room she had to knock on his door several times before he cracked the door open.

"What is it?" he asked bored.

Chiyo held up the envelop for him to see. "A young lady was just here and wanted you to have this," she said and watched as his visible eye widened through the crack of the door before he jumped out and snatched the envelop and quickly opened it.

It had a single paper and a key. "Is she still here?" Sasori asked hurriedly as he tried to look down the hallway, hoping she would be in the next room.

"No, she had to be on her way."

"Why didn't you call for me!" Sasori started before running back into his room. "Crap, now I have to go to the train station, I better not be too late!"

Chiyo was both worried and amused. "You never listen to my calls when you're busy," she reminded. Sasori just growled in irritation. He grabbed his jacket and the handles of a small paper bag and was already in going down the hall when his grandmother stopped him. "You're going out like that? You should at least take a quick shower and put on some clean clothes, you've been wearing those sweatpants for the last two days, not only do they probably smell but you'll get soaked to the bone if you go out wearing those."

"What does it matter what I look and smell like if it's still raining like that!" Sasori glared.

"If you move fast you'll still get there in time," Chiyo said, "I am not letting my grandson leave the house like this."

Sasori growled in irritation again and ran back into his room to deposit his jacket and bag on his bed before grabbing his towel and quickly heading to the bathroom as he pulled up his shirt over his head. Only a couple seconds after the bathroom door slammed shut, the shower started running.

Raven was finally waiting for the train in the area by the tracks at the station that had several benches under a cover to protect them from the weather. Only about five more minutes until the train's scheduled arrival. Even with such a short time to wait, she put her things down on the bench next to her and left the umbrella leaning against the seat so she could sit. She yawned, tired. Maybe she could sleep on the train if she wasn't paranoid about missing her stop or having her things stolen. Then she looked down both directions of the tracks to see if she could see the train coming, but couldn't see far due to the still heavy rain and the fog that accompanied it. Oh well.

Sasori decided to forget the umbrella. It would only slow him down and he didn't have much time by the time he finally left. Not to mention that his hair was already wet from his shower, so he didn't really care about it. It was mildly irritating that he had to shower, dry himself off to get dressed, only to end up soaked again when he went outside. When he got the train station, he spotted Raven in almost no time. He could recognize her anywhere now.

"Raven!" he called out as he approached her.

She looked over at the source of the call, and was surprised to see Sasori waving to her. Quickly standing, she stepped out into the rain to meet him. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "You're soaked," she added.

He scratched the back of his head nervously, fingers running through soaked hair, "I just wanted to give you this before you left," he said and offered her the bag. He had put it inside his jacket to keep it dry as he ran.

"Oh, you didn't have to do this now, I was going to be back right after the holiday silly," she smiled as she accepted the gift. She made sure to hold it close with both arms to keep it as dry as possible, not minding that she was getting wet standing with him in the rain. Water is her element after all.

"I know, but it would mean more to me if you got it for the holiday itself," he said.

"Thank you," she nodded. "Unfortunately, I don't have your gift with me, so you'll have to wait until I get back."

He laughed softly at that. "I'm sure I can handle waiting for that, but this, on the other hand, I couldn't wait any longer." With that he took both sides of her face and neck as he leaned in to kiss her. Raven was so surprised by this move that she had to keep herself from backing away reflexively. In fact, he was also shocked that he went ahead and actually did it.

It was brief, but held a lot of meaning. When he parted he still held onto her, smiling as he looked at her blushed cheeks and her surprised doe eyes. She blinked the shock away and they looked at each other wordlessly as the train came to a stop at the station. He brushed his lips against hers quickly once again, and this time she didn't tense up.

"I'll see you when you get back," he said before stepping away.

"…Yeah," she said before thinking of something. "Wait," she called to him a few second later and ran catch up with him. "Sasori, take this," she said and offered him her red umbrella. "You'll need it more than I will," she said.

He chuckled but nodded as he accepted it from her. "Hurry up, or you'll miss the train," he waved. She waved back as she went back to grab her things and boarded the train.

As Sasori walked away, he opened the umbrella, now that he can take his time as he walked home. The entire way he had a smile on his face that he had to force off before stepping in through his front door. He hung up the umbrella and sneezed as he went back to his room.

Raven was looking out the window of her seat on the train. The rain and fog was actually quite relaxing and her mind was replaying the events at the station again and again. Seemed the shock still didn't wear off as quickly as she hoped. Though now she knows how he feels for her. Actions often say much more than words ever can, and much more clearly. There was no denying what he said through everything he just did. The thought made her blush again. She looked down at the paper sack sitting on her lap and lifted it up to see what was inside. The item was wrapped in gift wrap so she decided to wait until later to open it.

When the holiday finally arrived, Suki had got dressed in some of her nicest winter clothes to wear to Itachi's house, the outfit consisted of a purple sweater with a low, wide neckline and a pair of nice gray pants. She spent a lot of time on her hair, insuring it would remain perfect throughout the visit. After she did her makeup and nails, she put on a pair of little pink star earrings and a pink heart necklace.

Suki had looked out the window that morning when she got up and saw that it snowed overnight and now there was just enough fresh snow to cover everything in pure white. She took that as a wonderfully good omen that today was going to be great.

When it was time to visit Itachi, she put on her nice long black coat with a hot pink lining inside and trim, which she had to put money aside for two years before she was able to get. What better time to show it off than at her boyfriend's parents? And after she put on her white scarf and matching gloves, she picked up her purse and hung it from her shoulder and carried a gift bag from her elbow.

As Suki stepped outside, she confirmed how chilly it was. Just when she arrived at the Uchiha gates, it began to lightly snow again.

" Twenty one… twenty two… twenty three, this must be it," Suki said as she approached the large house.

Before she knocked on the door, it opened and she was greeted by a handsome Itachi with a quick hug. "Hey you're just in time, my father went to bed already, so he'll be up for dinner, but my mom is in the kitchen," he said and pulled her inside. He was wearing a dark red sweater with a high neck and some nice black pants.

"Went to bed?" Suki repeated as Itachi removed her coat, the scarf going with it.

"Yeah, he has night shift tonight to be ready for," Itachi said and she nodded in understanding before taking off her boots and leaving them by the other shoes in the entry way.

"It that Suki, Itachi?" his mother called as she came in.

"Yes, Suki this is my mom," Itachi said.

"It's very nice to meet you," Suki bowed. She was surprised by how young and pretty his mother looked, and also noted how much her sons resembled her.

Once the initial greetings were over, Suki was led into the living room where there was a decorated tree, a couple sofas and a low table in front of the TV. Sasuke was sitting on the floor at the table with some cocoa. After Suki set down the gift bag by the tree, she took a seat next to Itachi on the sofa behind Sasuke.

"So what did you do today, Sasuke?" Suki asked him.

He just looked at her and shrugged before directing his attention back to the TV.

"This morning he went on a mission with his team and teacher to help deliver packages and gifts to people's houses."

"Oh, I remember doing that when I was a junior high genin," Suki said. "It was so much fun!"

"Sasuke," Mikoto called from the next room. "Would you help me for a minute?"

"Sure mom," he said as he moved to get up and then left. As soon as he left, Itachi put his arm up on the backrest and around Suki's shoulders.

"So I saw Sasori yesterday," Suki said.

"Yeah?" Itachi said.

"Yeah, he's been taking care of Raven's cats, mainly because of the one they're training together, so he's been going over there each day."

"Was he asked to do it?" Itachi asked.

Suki shrugged, "I think it was only implied, like he was expecting to as an obligation."

"That sounds about right," Itachi chuckled.

Suki laughed to until she looked up above them. "Huh?" she said and then looked away blushing.

Confused, Itachi looked up as well and was shocked to find mistletoe waving around above them. He blushed at the thought of kissing Suki right here and now. Looking over, there was Sasuke holding the rod with the mistletoe and had a rather bored but amused expression.

"Sasuke!" Itachi shouted at him in embarrassment. Like hell if he was going to be kissing is girlfriend for the first time in front of his little brother.

"Mom told me to," Sasuke sighed and pointedly looked away.

Mikoto came in giggling with her hands covering her lips. "I'm sorry Itachi, I couldn't resist, I don't mean to tease you," she said.

Itachi's face was complete red. This was so embarrassing. "…Mom…" Itachi groaned.

Mikoto was still laughing, "Thank you, Sasuke," she said and kissed his forehead since he was accidentally holding the rod above himself.

"…Mom…" Sasuke groaned just as Itachi had and also blushed from embarrassment.

As soon as they left again, Itachi stood. "Here, I'll give you the grand tour," he smiled.

"Sure," Suki smiled and hopped up to her feet.

The tour wasn't long. They avoided the area of the house where his father was sleeping so they couldn't possibly disturb him, and they eventually made their way to Itachi's room. "This is my room," he said and led her inside.

"It's so clean," Suki commented.

"Yeah, I just cleaned it anyway," he said. "But I wanted to give you something, a gift," he said and picked up something off his desk. "Here."

He handed her a wrapped box. When she took off the wrapping paper and lift the lid, she found some silver snowflake earrings. "They're pretty!" she said and thanked him with a hug.

He laughed and hugged her back. "You're welcome, I thought they would suit you," he said.

"How could I have ever missed meeting you at KS sooner?" she asked tilting her head to the side cutely as she smiled.

"I just wasn't there much," he said looking away as he smiled awkwardly.

"How come?" she asked as her smile fell slightly.

"I was really sick for most of high school, so I just couldn't go," he explained.

"Why not? What happened?" Suki asked.

"So you know about my family's Sharingan right?" Itachi asked as he sat on his bed. She sat next to him and nodded. "Well mine matured at an early age. At first my father thought it was great, because I was able to learn fast and got very strong quickly. I became the prodigy of the family and my father's training was rigorous. But I overused the Sharingan and since it wasn't given the chance to mature properly when I was little, it caused problems for me and my health took a turn for the worse when my chakra began to poison me. Now I have the highest level Sharingan ever recorded, but I can't use it much or otherwise I could become ill again, and if exerted enough I could die."

"Oh," Suki breathed. She didn't know that, and she felt really sorry for him. It sounded as if it was all his father's fault for pushing him so hard. "You seemed so advanced for our class, I would have never guessed that you missed so much school."

"I was still studying at home and in the hospital when there weren't bandages over both of my eyes, so I kept up just fine, despite the chakra poisoning, I was still quite gifted," he explained while she nodded. Itachi then looked over at his alarm clock to check the time. "Dinner will be ready soon, I know it's kind of early, but we always make sure to have it ready in time for my father to enjoy it before he goes to work," he said.

"Alright," Suki said and began to stand.

"I'm sorry," Itachi said.

"Why?"

"I guess I shouldn't have told you all that about me, it made you sad," he said.

"Oh, it's okay, I'm glad you told me," she assured him and he nodded before moving to his door and put on a charming smile as he gestured her out the door.

Dinner was quite pleasant. Itachi's father, Fugaku, was a little critical at first, but still didn't seem overly so as he asked her how her grades were and what her plans were for the future so far. Suki grades were excellent, so there was nothing wrong there, but she did seem a little unsure about her future plans. After that, Mikoto was sure to keep the conversation light and pleasant. Sasuke didn't say much of anything unless spoken to.

After dinner, Mikoto went to see off her husband to work while the brothers cleaned up.

"It's snowing," Mikoto informed when she returned. They confirmed it by looking out the window. "There's a few inches out there now," she added.

"Do you want to go outside, Suki?" Itachi asked, knowing that she likes snow.

"Sure!" she said happily. They both got their shoes, coats, gloves, and scarves on before going outside. Suki laughed while she ran a short distance with her arms out before spinning around to face Itachi. "Come on!"

He smiled before stepping off the porch and onto the snow. It crunched under his feet, he could tell it was the perfect kind for packing together for snowballs. After a few more steps, she kicked up snow at him.

"Getting over here today would be nice," she laughed as he continued his slower pace. She ran ahead again and picked up a handful of snow, packed it together into a ball, and when she turned around to throw it at him, he was gone.

"Nice try," Itachi taunted from her left and she was hit in the side with a snowball. Suki yelped and jumped to face him. He was standing there with another snowball in his hand and a cocky look on his face.

She threw her snowball at him and he dodged it like it was almost nothing before throwing another at her. It hit her legs, making her jump again. "Oh, you are so on!" she laughed as she gathered more snow.

"I do believe it was you who meant to take the first strike," he taunted.

She glared at him, "You are messing with the wrong girl in the wrong element mister," she taunted right back.

Itachi smirked. His way of wordlessly saying, "Bring it on."

Their little snow fight didn't last long, they were laughing too much to be serious about it. Then the cold was starting to make itself more known to them. Suki breathed on her gloved hands to warm them back up a little from handling the snow.

"Here," Itachi said as he took her hands between his and held them close to him. She blushed a little before looking up at him. He had a very thoughtful look.

"What is it?" she asked, worried.

Itachi smiled gently as she shook his head. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"For what?" she asked.

"For making me smile," he said and pulled her a little closer. "And for being here with me today," he added before embracing her. Her hands were still on his chest as she leaned against him.

"It's nothing, I'm happy to do it," she said while he still hugged her.

He pulled his face away to look at her. "There's another thing," he said and she was about to asked what it was when he continued. "Thanks for being my girlfriend," he added and kissed her. Suki was surprised at first, it was like something out of a fairytale with the pure white snow around them and still gently falling from the sky. The kiss was short and sweet, but said all that it needed to say.

"You're welcome," she said when he released her and took a small step back. They were both blushing a little, the small smiles on their faces also evident.

"Would you like some cocoa?" he asked.

Suki giggled, "Sure," she said before following him back inside.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Typically, men can't shop if they don't tag along often, even when given a list to remind them. And this AU doesn't have cellphones for poor, lost Sasori to call/text Chiyo for more information.

Among the rain: Sasori and Raven's first kiss.

And Snow: Itachi and Suki's first real kiss.

For as much as I dislike Sasuke, I still have to make him a part of Itachi's life, so the little brother got to be in a scene this time again. Also, besides Suki's snowflake earrings, all other gifts will be left to the imagination.

Reviews are always nice, anytime. Thanks for reading.


	8. Charm and Glamour

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 8: Charm and Glamour

The first week back to school after winter break had KS High getting ready for the annual winter formal dance. Ninja are taught many skills that can be used in surveillance, disguise, and looking natural in any situation. The winter formal was the time to display and put to use the skills they learned in etiquette, manners, poise, charm, and glamour. Dates are not required, but many students choose to take one. The students are expected to dress appropriately during the formal by wearing formal clothing. Women wear gowns and men must wear suits. Attendance is required for the seniors so they can set the example for the underclassmen.

The winter formal was known to be a time when many meet their future spouses. The music, lighting, and overall atmosphere seemed to easily breed romance. Of course, there was going to a band for the music, food and drinks offered, and tables and seats to socialize at.

Itachi had asked Suki to be his date the first morning back to school when the dance posters were being put up. Of course she happily accepted, and was excited for the rest of the morning. She even already knew just what kind of dress she wanted, but doubted that she would ever be able to find the one she envisioned in her mind. Maybe she could get some help making it?

Sasori and Raven were much closer now, so he asked her at lunch. He was going to wait until after school to ask, but then Hidan threatened to ask her for himself if Sasori didn't get to it first. That was just to push Sasori into doing it as soon as he did, because everyone still thought he was completely denying his feelings since he had avoided talking about their growing relationship, knowing the teasing that would come with revealing that information. None of his friends knew how he had been hanging out with her a lot more since after the holiday. On the days he didn't see her, they would end up calling each other and talking for at least a couple hours, if not the whole evening depending on what else was going on.

Since the first day back from break, the groups converged and now Raven and Suki were eating lunch with Itachi and Sasori's group of friends. Sometimes a friend of Raven and Suki, Kuuki, would come and talk with them from time to time.

Kuuki was a petite girl with dark wavy hair and dark eyes, and her voice was much younger for her age. Though being a bit of an airhead, she was very nice, and studying to be a medic as she wanted to avoid all danger or hurting people. Kuuki was a junior, so the same age as Deidara, but he didn't really know her very well. Though after talking with her when she came to visit her friends one time at lunch during the week, he kind of took a shine to her. When Friday came around, he was hanging out with her more and had asked her to the formal dance.

Friday after lunch, Sasori and Raven were in the library for their free period. Raven was doing some research for a paper so she was quickly hidden among the shelves. Sasori didn't really feel like working since it was Friday, so he doodled. He sketched several gowns, trying to imagine what kind of gown Raven might wear to the formal. He knew she liked red, so that was his first guess. He liked red too, it was even the color of his personal insignia of the red scorpion. He could picture her in something red, while himself in black. He could only imagine her hair being up, like a bun or something, mostly due to that fact he had never seen her with her hair down before since she always had it tied back in a ponytail.

Thinking about Raven, he wasn't sure what to call their relationship at all. They've hung out and talked on the phone so far, but haven't been on a real, official date yet. He wasn't even sure if he was supposed to call her his girlfriend right now. They might just be really close friends that have kissed a little bit and plan to go to the dance together. Maybe that will be it and things will go back to the way they were soon after the dance. Sasori realized he didn't really like the thought of that.

"Hey," Raven said while setting down her notebook now that she was done with her research.

"Hey," he said looking up at her as she situated her things and then sat down across from him at their usual table.

"Are you drawing dresses?" she asked, seeing his sketches.

"Huh?" he looked down at the paper. "Guess so, just wondering what you might get for the formal."

"Oh, well I haven't really thought about it…" she admitted. He was slightly surprised, it seemed like the kind of thing that all girls would be thinking about when there's a dance coming up. "It's so hard to shop for a dress, and hardly anything I like fits, so then I have to spend a bunch of time adjusting it. I might as well make one myself," she sighed.

He nodded and began to put his things in his book bag as he thought of something. "…Are you doing anything tonight?" Sasori asked.

"Not really," she answered as she looked over her notes before also slipping them into the bag. She was sure that Sasori was going to ask when would be a good time to call her and chat.

"Do you want to come over to my place?" he asked casually.

"Huh? Why?" Raven questioned as she looked at him. They never go over to his place without a specific reason for needing to, so she has only been there once. Until now he never offered again, his reason being that he doesn't want his Grandmother around any of his friends.

"Well, I have a whole workshop at my disposal, I could help you," he said. Now that he thought about it, he really owes her for helping him so much. This was just his chance to repay her.

"Help me?" Raven asked, confused as to what he was talking about.

"Yeah, help you make your gown for winter formal," he stated and Raven's eyebrows raised in surprise. "What?" he asked seeing her reaction.

"You want to make a dress? Can you sew?" Raven asked.

"Of course I can," Sasori nodded. "And I really owe you for helping me out so much lately, I want to return the favor," he explained. It was only natural for a true Scorpio like him to always repay a deed.

"I suppose that makes sense," she said as a small smiled crept across her face as she imagined him sewing ribbons and jewels onto a formal gown. It might be a very amusing sight for her.

"So it's a date," he nodded once before the bell rang.

Raven told Suki about this plan in their next class of senior training. "No fair, I want a dress made too!" Suki said as they were getting ready in the locker room.

"Maybe you could ask him to help?"

"Do you think he would?"

"Maybe," Raven shrugged.

As soon as they left the locker room, Suki sought out Sasori.

"Huh?" Sasori asked after Suki asked him to also help make her dress.

"You're going to make their outfits, Sasori?" Itachi questioned as he approached, only hearing the last part of the question.

"…Well…" Sasori rubbed the back of his neck while he thought about it. He was only planning on making the one for his date, but if he refuses to make one for his date's friend, it might upset her. "…It's a lot of work just to make one…" he tried to explain.

"Please…" Suki tried. "I'll do as much of it myself as I can, and I don't have any of the tools either."

"I could help too," Itachi offered, mostly because he didn't want to be left out while his friend could potentially be alone with his girlfriend.

"Can you even sew?" Sasori questioned.

"Well no," Itachi admitted. "But I do have the Sharingan, so I can just learn from you."

Sasori thought about it. He was up to two dresses, and teaching possibly two people about how to make them. As much as he hated to think about it, he was sure he would have to call in reinforcements for this mission. "Fine," Sasori agreed. "My workshop is behind my house. Itachi, you know where it is, you can bring Suki there some time after school. Suki, it would be helpful if you have a plan before arriving," he instructed.

"Right," Itachi and Suki nodded.

Sasori sighed as his friends went off for their individual training, but Raven came up beside him. "What have I got myself into?" he asked her.

Raven laughed softly. "You could have said no," she said.

"It's fine…" Sasori sighed again. He wasn't regretting his decision to take on all this yet. Hopefully that was a good sign.

After school, Raven met up with Sasori and they headed over to his workshop. After turning on all the lights, it was fairly well lit over the workstations. There were tools and parts along the walls, and a corner dedicated to lab equipment and supplies with colorful vials and books on the shelves. There were also a couple bare tables in the center for working at and laying stuff out, and a wall of large cabinet doors that was obviously storage.

"So, um," Sasori started, "I drew up some more ideas since you said you hadn't thought about it."

"Okay," Raven nodded. He stood there for a moment before putting his book bag down on the table and retrieving the drawings. Raven stood at the adjacent edge of the table as she looked at them. Some were plain, some were interesting, and some were obviously only going to be in his dreams. "So I'd like this skirt if it was more like this…" she said as she took the mechanical pencil that had been hooked to the papers and drew on them. "That way it doesn't get caught around my legs, or even your legs if we stand close like when we're dancing," she said and he nodded. "Now for the top part…" she looked at a few again, flipping the pages back a forth. "This one, but with the neck line of this one maybe?" Raven then drew some arrows and made note of it. "What do you think?" she asked him suddenly.

"Oh, uh…" Sasori quickly thought about it. If he were to draw more, he would have surely gotten to a design very similar to what she chose, since he was just playing mix and match with the shapes, lengths, and cuts. "Yeah, no problem, we can do that," he nodded.

They designed the gown on another paper, then what would be required for materials and measurements. "So now we just need your measurements," Sasori nodded and put down the pencil and opened a drawer nearby and retrieved the loose measuring tape while Raven moved and removed her jacket, setting it down on the table by her bag.

She blushed slightly when he started at the top, measuring her bust. At first he didn't really think about the significance of what he was doing until he had to brush the tops of his fingers against her bra clasp through her shirt so he could locate it and set the measurement above it. Next was just under that, this time on top of the clasp and under the bust. He tried to do it as quickly as possible because it was getting awkward, so he soon let go of one end of the tape and moved to write down those two measurements, making note of how much he might have to add for the stitching. He briefly thought that now he would know her bra size if he knew how exactly that was calculated. He thought how it was ironic that he had never bothered to learn that, but is able to learn calculus. On that thought, he realized that there was something that could mess up the dress if the measurements are distorted.

"Uh, are you… going to be wearing the kind of… bra you're wearing right now… with the dress?" he asked awkwardly while blushing. He could hardly believe he asked his maybe-girlfriend about her bra, it was so embarrassing.

She gave a short cough. "Yeah," she answered shortly.

Sasori nodded and looked at the paper. "Okay, now the waist," he said and stepped up behind her again and reached in front of her from both sides to take hold the tape and pull it back to him.

Itachi and Suki entered through the slightly open doorway and saw what appeared to be a rather intimate position. Sasori had left the door open a crack so the others could get in, he kind of regretted that decision as he looked over and saw the shocked expressions on their faces.

"Hey," Raven greeted, seemingly unfazed by the situation. "You're up next, Suki," she added.

"For what?" Suki asked, her face falling.

"Getting your measurements for the dress," Raven said slowly, she thought it would be obvious. Why else would she be getting her measurement taken? Certainly not for kicks and giggles. A women's measurements, as well as her weight, is almost never given to someone else, especially a man, without a reason.

Sasori quickly measured her hips and then the lengths of her torso and legs before taking a look at what Suki brought concerning her ideas or plans for her gown. Itachi just stood nearby with his hands in his pockets.

Suki brought an old magazine with her and quickly flipped to the page that had the dress she wanted. Sasori looked it over, it might be a little difficult, but nothing he can't handle.

"Alright," Sasori agreed and Suki sighed in relief since she was afraid he wouldn't be able to help make it. He got another paper and started to write down the measurements he would need on each line. "So now we just need your measurements," he said while reaching to pick up the measuring tape.

"I'll do it," Itachi said, practically snatching the tape away.

"Whatever, just get each of these and it'll make this project that much easier and with fewer adjustments at the end," Sasori instructed and then stood to watch and make sure Itachi would do it right.

Suki started to feel awkward while both men were looking at her while Itachi put the measuring tape around the bust line. "Okay, so that comes to…" Itachi started as he read the tape.

"You're doing it wrong," Sasori said. "That's not the right way to measure."

"What?" Itachi questioned. He didn't know there was a right way to measure the bust line.

"You were holding the tape wrong," Sasori said.

Itachi then moved the tape slightly up Suki's back and then looked at Sasori, who simply shook his head. Then he tried moving the tape lower than the previous position, and Sasori shook his head again. Trying again, he let go of the tape and wrapped it back around, placing it in a different position.

"That's even worse than it was before," Sasori said and Itachi glared before tossing the tape back onto the table.

"Well then how is it supposed to be done, Genius?" Itachi retorted. Seriously, Sasori could have been a little more verbal about what was wrong in the first place, but instead it felt like he just wanted Itachi to look like an idiot.

"The tape was way too high on the front and you're supposed to hold the tape a little more snug than that, you were adding like four inches to her, the dress would fall right off if we used that measurement," Sasori explained.

"Could have just said something like that in the first place!" Itachi grumbled. "Why don't you just do it if I obviously can't do it right?"

"I knew you couldn't do it, which is why I was about to, but then you got all jealous and snatched the tape away!" Sasori glared. "Seriously, did you think I'd try to grope your girlfriend? Especially when we're all right here?"

Itachi hadn't even thought of that yet. "What?" he started while clenching his fists.

"Um, guys," Raven said to get their attention. They both looked over and she was writing down the last measurement on the paper. While the guys were arguing, she took Suki's measurements herself since she knew what Sasori was going to use. "It's done," she stated and set down the pencil and looked up to find the guys shocked and jaws slack since they know they just made themselves look like utter idiots.

Everyone was silent for several seconds before Sasori moved and picked up the papers and looked them over. They appeared to be accurate so he put them down and reached for a notepad. He wrote down some things on two sheets and ripped them off and gave them to Raven. "That is about how much fabric you will need for each part, go pick out what you want, get it, and come back here so we can put it together," Sasori instructed the girls. "Itachi, myself, and my backup that will be coming over soon, will work on the outlines and cutout guides here since we have the measurements."

The girls both nodded and gathered up their things so they could go buy the material of their choice. As they left, Itachi started asking Sasori what they were going to use as the cutout guides and Sasori was already moving to the storage closets to search for the paper role.

It only took a little over an hour for the girls to reach the fabric shop, find what they wanted, and return to Sasori's workshop. Since it was starting to get dark, the girls also stopped to get them all some take out for dinner as a small payment for the guys' generosity, and they made sure to get a lot of it knowing that teenaged men tend to eat a lot as a rule.

The girls reached the workshop behind Sasori's house and stopped at the door when they heard a loud clatter from inside. Raven and Suki looked at each other before boldly going inside, where they found Sasori, Itachi, and Deidara at each other's throats and not getting anything done. The men were throwing colorful words, among other things at each other and Deidara seemed to be the main target as they ran about the room.

The girls watched with a mix of shock, worry, and amusement as they knew they would not be jumping in to intervene while carrying their new fabric and thread, meals, and book bags while also wearing their heavy winter coats as it was very cold in early January.

"When you're done trying to kill each other," Raven started and the guys halted and looked at the girls surprised since they were unaware of their return. "We have the materials and we brought back food…" she stated dryly while looking at them like they were idiots, which was exactly how they felt at the moment.

The guys tidied up the workshop so it was somewhat back to the way it was when the girls left. They all ate first before getting back to work.

"Oh please…" Deidara sighed while looking over Itachi's shoulder. "That is a top stitch, not an under stitch," he said while putting his hands on his hips. "You're making dress, not a sofa."

The girls tried not to laugh at the younger man's behavior, it was certainly feminine tonight. Turned out that it was comments like that which caused the commotion before the girls returned. Seeing Itachi's eyes flash red as his urge to kill the younger man rose, Suki quickly took the fabric Itachi was working on.

"It's not a problem, I can do this part instead, how about you take over on the machine, Itachi?" Suki suggested. Itachi obliged as he moved over to the machine, but glared at Deidara as he did so before continuing where Suki left off on that section of the dress.

Deidara was taking the completed pieces and putting them together on a female manikin torso and marking where the pieces should be joined together to match the correct measurements. He was also putting in the details on the skirt of Suki's dress, as that part needed to be done by hand and he was sure to make it exactly like the magazine page Suki had brought. Even though everyone was doubtful of Deidara's presence being helpful at first, he did turn out to match Sasori in both speed and accuracy in apparel design.

They were there most of the night. But with everyone's help, they completed the task and made sure to fit the gowns perfectly, and the girls took home their gowns for the upcoming formal.

The next week was filled with classes and themed events to get people excited about the formal, but very few tests or projects due.

When the day of the formal came, Itachi was getting ready in his room, planning to leave shortly to meet his friends and date at ballroom in town. There was a few knocks at his door so he told them that they could come in.

It was his mother and Sasuke. "Are you leaving soon?" Itachi's mother asked.

"Yeah," Itachi answered as he slowly tied his red, sparsely striped tie, making sure he would get it even on his first try. Wearing a white button-down, red buttoned vest, and a black pinstriped suit, all that was left were his black formal shoes.

"Mom wants pictures," Sasuke said.

"Oh okay," Itachi said as he sat down on his bed and slipped on his shoes. It felt so weird wearing socks too when he hardly ever had to wear them. "Is Father still home?" he asked.

"He's in the living room," his mother answered.

Before heading to the living room, Itachi checked his hair again even though it was how it always looks. His father judged Itachi's attire, ensuring he was fit for the formal. After that, his mother took a few pictures and then he was on his way.

Sasori felt like a clown dressed up. He was wearing a light blue button-down, a dark blue tie, and a buttoned blue striped vest under his black suit jacket. Though right now his grandmother was ironing one last wrinkle out of his jacket, so Sasori put on his socks and shoes while he waited. This was the forth time Chiyo had made Sasori remove his jacket so she could get a wrinkle out of it. He didn't care about wrinkles anymore, he just wanted to leave or else he might be late.

"It's fine, Grandmother," Sasori grumbled. "I have to go now."

Chiyo had just finished so she gave him his jacket, which he quickly put on, put his ticket in the jacket pocket and made sure he had his wallet before heading to the door.

"Don't forget to get some pictures," Chiyo reminded.

"Sure," he said before leaving.

He arrived at the ballroom and searched for his friends. The lighting was soft but bright, with accents and chandeliers while tall pillars supported the high ceiling along the edges of the circular room. A stage with a band was on the opposite side of the entrance, and right now they were playing a lively tune as people arrived and socialized. Along the outside edges of the room, there were tables and decorations, as well as snacks and drinks.

Sasori found Deidara and Kuuki first. The younger man was wearing a brown suit with a white button-down under it and his date, Kuuki, was wearing a long dark purple sparkly halter top gown. Her wavy hair was up in a messy bun with loose wavy locks framing her face and a couple hanging free at the back of her neck, and there also appeared to be glitter in her hair and in her makeup.

"Looking sharp, yeah!" Deidara said as Sasori approached.

"Is anyone else here yet?" Sasori asked, not caring to accept or return the compliment.

"Yeah! Pain and Konan just got here too, but they just went over to get some drinks," Deidara pointed to the goth couple on the other side of the ballroom. "Kisame got here same time I did a few minutes ago, he said he was going to go look for his lady friend, and Tobi was here before I got here," Deidara explained and then pointed to Tobi, who was wearing a unbuttoned black suit with a bright orange tie and black button-down shirt, and currently trying every cookie, pastry, and other free snack the dance had to offer.

Kuuki went to go say hi to a few friends, leaving the men to chat a little. At the same time, Sasori turned around and saw both Hidan and Itachi coming in too. The other two men saw them and approached as well then Deidara told them the same stuff he just told Sasori.

"So where's your date Deidara?" Hidan questioned with a smirk. "Looks like your keeping them in your pockets," Hidan laughed and Deidara glared while Sasori and Itachi rolled their eyes.

"I did not make out with my hand," Deidara grumbled. "I do not talk to hands, I do not lick, kiss, or use my hands for any of the gross stuff you've talked about, got it?"

"Whatever, you've got to be lying," Hidan sniggered and Deidara fumed.

"It's a sacred forbidden art, I'm not going to use it to play with myself!" Deidara stated, making the other guys look at him amused. Fed up, Deidara huffed and went to find his date.

"That guy is too easy," Hidan laughed to the others. "Well, I'm off to party," he waved and stepped away.

As soon as he turned a pair of slender hands came over Itachi's eyes. "Guess who," Suki laughed from behind him.

Itachi smiled and turned around to look at her. Suki's hair was pulled over her shoulder into a low curled ponytail, held in place using a long pink ribbon tied in a bow, while her bangs were pushed out of her face and held in place with hairspray, leaving her forehead open. She wore pink glittery makeup on both her eyes and lips, a hint of mascara to make her eyes appear large, and she wore silvery butterfly earrings and a matching necklace. Her long strapless gown was bright pink with a heart shaped top which was covered with glittering jewels. The waist was also framed in glittering jewels and the shining skirt was puffy with a bunch of decorative kinks.

"Wow… you look great!" Itachi beamed as he kept looking at her. He thought he should have used the word stunning, because that is what happened, he was stunned.

"Teehee, thanks," she smiled. "You look great too!" He certainly looked great in a suit, though she was sure he looked better without one, but that thought just about made her blush.

Sasori watched them for a second before realizing that if Suki was here, then Raven probably was too. He turned slightly and found her coming to a stop a couple feet away as she approached. At first he didn't recognize her, but as he did he was stunned momentarily. Her long hair was down, hanging freely over her shoulders and gently curled, while her long bangs on one side were held far back with a silver clip. Normally only wearing a light dusting on makeup in the form of a soft colored eye shadow, she was wearing different shades of blue eye shadow with mascara to make her blue eyes stand out greatly, her skin was dusted for an even look, and lips stained a couple shades darker than her actual lip color. She wore a shiny blue strapless gown that arched over her chest and wore a silver necklace. The top part was fairly unique, framed with dark blue and small jewels, and went to her hips where the layer slanted and then the rest of the dress was a wavy skirt that came out from under the top layer and reached her ankles. Since he had a hand in making the gown, he knew that in the back was a corset ribbon that kept the dress tight enough to stay up.

"You cleaned up well," Raven said.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, well…" Sasori stammered for a second before clearing his throat. "You look nice, did you just get here?" he asked.

Raven nodded. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No," he said.

Itachi had turned to him. "He got here before I did, but I just got here too," he said.

"Good, so no one was kept waiting," Suki said.

"Shall we then?" Itachi offered before taking Suki to the dance floor.

"Should we go out there too?" Sasori asked his date, seeing all of his other friends on the dance floor.

"Sure," Raven said and they followed the other couple. "How's your dancing?"

"Rusty," he chuckled. They learned it freshman year and he for one hasn't done much dancing outside of that class. "But Itachi seems just as rusty," he added, looking at his friend trying to remember where to put his hands, so Suki took them and placed one of his hands on her waist and took the other in her hand, putting into a formal dancing position and then letting him lead as they began moving.

The first couple songs was a medium paced waltz followed by a fast paced jive that had many couples laughing as they were having fun trying to keep up, but since they were ninja, there wasn't any problem with collisions, stepping on partner's feet, falling, or anything else that could go wrong. After that was a much slower and softer tune to bring the actual couples closer together on the dance floor while others chatted with friends or sought out their next dance partner.

"Hey, I'm going to step out a minute, do you mind?" Itachi asked his date while they were dancing slowly.

"Huh? Why?" Suki asked. She was having such a nice time being so close to him too.

"I just have to go to the bathroom real quick, I won't be long," he said. "Hey, I know," he said and looked around, leaving her wondering what he was doing. "Hey Tobi!" he called to the other student who was nearby holding a couple cookies.

Tobi quickly approached. "What is it, Itachi-senpai?"

"Would you mind standing in for me during the next song?" Itachi requested.

"Yes sir!" Tobi saluted and Suki laughed.

The other guys seemed to think this was a good idea so each song or two Tobi got to dance with someone else's date while they went to the bathroom, got drinks, or anything else and didn't want to leave their date alone. It ended up being an enjoyable arrangement and Tobi was more than happy to have so many people to dance and chat with.

During a break, they had got their pictures taken in another room, a couple group shots and then just the couples. The background for the photos was a dark blue with white snowflakes and swirls. Then the girls sat at one of the tables at the edge of the ballroom. While talking, they noticed that the most desired teacher from KS, Mr. Sesshomaru, was chaperoning tonight. Several girls were trying to get his attention, but it seemed to be in vain.

"So Sasori seemed pleasantly surprised," Suki laughed.

"When?" Raven asked after sipping her sparkling cider.

"When he turned and saw you in a dress and with your hair down," Suki said.

Raven shrugged. "He was just surprised because this is different."

"I think you nearly knocked his socks off," Suki laughed.

"Me? Did you not see Itachi's reaction when he saw you? His jaw about to fell off," Raven added.

While Raven and Suki talked, Itachi was talking with his cousin, Shisui, who happened to be another chaperon tonight.

"Seriously, your father didn't tell you I'd be here?" Shisui asked, somewhat insulted after Itachi mentioned that he had no idea he would be here.

"He doesn't ever seem to tell me these things," Itachi sighed put his hands in his pockets.

"I am going to have to talk to him about it, and next time I visit I'll have to make sure to get a few words in with your mother since she might actually tell you things when I ask," Shisui said. The cousins talked a bit more, moving on to other subjects, like how people at the dance were doing so far and what Shisui thought about Itachi's date.

It wasn't long before Itachi returned to Suki and asked if she wanted to dance some more. She did so she left Raven to get in a few more dances before the night would be over. Sasori came back seconds later with another drink for himself and his date.

While Itachi got him and Suki to a good place on the dance floor, he had to think of something to say. "You know, that dress looks much better on you than it did on the manikin in Sasori's workshop," he commented as he pulled Suki close and began dancing again.

"Thanks, I'm glad he helped and let us use his workshop," Suki said as they span around.

"Hey, I helped too," Itachi smirked.

"I know, thank you as well," she said.

"It was nothing," Itachi smiled and they continued to circle around. "I'm glad we were able to come together," he said.

"Me too, this is the best dance ever. I have a charming date, a glamorous gown, and we've been having fun," she added and they both smiled and just looked at each other as they danced. "Hey Itachi," Suki started after a minute, "I think we should stop spinning now," she said.

Itachi was confused for a moment. "We did stop spinning," he smiled, moving her back and forth, but pulled her a closer so she was leaning against him just as the lights of the ballroom dimmed, meaning there would only be slow music now until the end of the dance. Tobi was enjoying the cookies again while Sasori took his date back to the dance floor for one or two more dances.

This time they were hardly dancing, just standing close and swaying with each other and only moving a little.

"The dance will be over soon," Sasori said to his date.

"Yeah, did you have a good time?" Raven asked.

"I suppose, dances aren't really my thing, but I didn't mind this one so much," he admitted.

"What made this one any different?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then smiled at her. "Just the company," he said.

"Oh," she looked away, her faint blush didn't show in the dim lighting, so he pulled her closer.

"Don't look away," he tried. After a couple seconds she wordlessly looked back at him and they continued the slow dance.

The music slowly came to an end and one of the musicians thanked everyone for the evening, told them that they all did very well, and now it was time to kiss your date goodnight, say goodbye to your friends, thank the host, and begin leaving.

Sasori looked at Raven awkwardly, trying to decide whether or not she wanted him to kiss her now. He's not really fond on public displays, but it's tradition. Finding a middle ground, he leaned in and pecked her cheek.

"So… do you want me to take you home?" he asked as he took a small step back.

"Sure," Raven nodded. "I'll thank you for the evening properly when I get home," she said and took his hand so they would start leaving the ballroom. During the short walk to the exit nearby, Sasori was left wondering what exactly she meant by that. From what he knew about her, it could be anything. He wasn't going to read anything into it though.

Itachi looked back at Suki and pulled her close again. "Thank you for the evening," he said and gave her a big kiss. She was surprised at first but wrapped her arms around his neck as she accepted. "Walk you home?" Itachi offered when he pulled away.

"Yeah," she nodded and she took a step back. "Do you want to say goodbye to your friends first?"

"Nah, I'll be seeing them soon," he said. "But it's late and we should be going home, I'm expected back soon anyway," he added.

As they made their way across the ballroom and to the exit, he waved to his friends as they passed. After Suki retrieved her coat and purse from the coat check they stepped outside into the cold night air. The street lights were on, so it wasn't that dark as they walked back to Suki's apartment.

"Are you cold?" Itachi asked as they walked. She was wearing a coat and gloves, but she seemed to be shivering a bit.

"A little bit, but we're almost there," she said. Itachi nodded and quickened the pace a little so they might get her home faster.

Sasori and Raven got there a little sooner. "Do you have a minute to come inside?" she asked.

"I guess, sure," he said, "I should see how Shinobi is doing, haven't seen him in a while." Raven rolled her eyes and sighed as she unlocked her door. "Something wrong?" Sasori asked after he heard her sigh. He only just remembered that she said she was going to thank him when she got home.

She opened her door and looked at him. "Idiot," she said quietly and pulled him inside by his tie before quickly shutting the door behind them.

Then Itachi and Suki started up the walkway to the apartments. "Do you want to come inside for a minute?" Suki asked while fiddling with her key.

"I'd like to, but I have to be back as soon as I can," he said disappointed.

"That's fine, thank you for walking be home, Itachi," she smiled and leaned up to kiss him. Then she had wrapped her arms around his neck so he wrapped his around her waist and pulled her closer. Just when it was about to deepen further, she pulled away, leaving him wanting more. "Good night," she smiled and went inside.

"…Night," he waved slowly and watched her disappear inside. As he turned around and began walking back down the pathway to the street, Raven's door opened and Sasori stumbled out looking shocked and pleased at the same time. It was a very strange sight for the Uchiha.

Sasori patted down his hair and tie as he looked up, seeing Itachi stare at him. Clearing his throat, Sasori walked down the pathway as casually as he could with a forced serious expression.

Itachi was about to say something as Sasori approached him on the pathway, but Sasori spoke first. "That's right," Sasori smirked and nodded, answering Itachi unspoken question. "And don't pretend you weren't just sucking face on the doorstep either," he added.

Itachi was taken aback for a moment before he smirked and shrugged. "Fine, whatever," he continued to smirk before turning to make his leave.

"See ya," Sasori called to him before leaping off into the darkness to head home in a good mood.

Itachi chuckled slightly to himself before leaping off in the other direction.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So that was the winter formal. Things are looking good for the young couples, aren't they? Well, no relationship can be perfect coughforshadowingcough.


	9. Painful Decisions

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 9: Painful Decisions

Sasori had no idea what he was getting himself into when he asked Raven for an interrogation lesson to help him with nonviolent methods. He had asked for her help several weeks ago and now it was a couple weeks after the winter formal, and since he got his most recent grade report in the class, he realized that he had to get to work on his understanding and methods to improve his grade. So after school one day, they went over to the art room in the school and got to work. He had no idea it would involve him being tied to a chair. His hands were securely tied behind him to each of the back legs of the chair, his legs to the front legs of the chair, and even his waist was tied to the back of the chair.

She just stared down at him with her arms crossed, not even blinking with an emotionless, unreadable expression. After several seconds of silence, the intense gaze directed at him was making him uncomfortable, but for some reason he also found this situation oddly arousing. He wished his ankles weren't tied to the chair legs so he could put his legs together, he felt like he was put into a vulnerable position. He knew being made vulnerable was probably the point.

Still silent, he began to wonder if she was going to say anything. "Now what?" he asked but was hushed.

"You're not allowed to talk yet," she said, expression not changing.

"But I thought the point of this was to make the prisoner talk?" he said.

"If you keep talking, you'll have to be gagged," she said and he zipped his lips.

The seconds ticked by as the second hand clicking on the clock behind him and her tapping foot matched perfectly. He was beginning to feel like he was under a real interrogation, like he has done something wrong, but this was only a mock lesson. This went on for five whole minutes exactly, but to him it felt like nearly an hour.

"Uncomfortable yet?" she asked.

"Huh? Kinda," he said. Then she finally moved, and began circling him. He watched her movements closely, preparing for whatever might be coming next. He knew it wouldn't be painful, as that was not the point of this exercise. Even as she walked, each tap of her heals matched the second hand behind him. As she circled behind him and out of view, her steps went silent. When she came back into his range of vision, her footsteps returned as well. It was bazaar.

Raven circled once again, and her footsteps disappeared again as well, but this time her hand brushed against the back of his neck causing him to shiver. He turned his head to catch sight of her through the corner of his eye, but she had turned and came back around from the side she disappeared on, seemingly appearing in front of him when he turned his head back.

"Learn anything?" she asked.

"Be really sneaky?" he asked.

"I'm sneaky because I specialize in stealth. Anything else?" she urged.

"…Creepy can be affective, get inside my head in any way possible," he answered, being careful not to mention anything along the lines of the suggestiveness to his maybe-girlfriend.

Raven chuckled softly before looking up at the clock behind him. "Guess we should get going," she said so she began to untie him. When that was done, they gathered their things and left. "I have to meet up with Suki soon, so I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said and drew her in for a quick hug. "Later," he said with a wave as he went the opposite direction to the main the entrance of the school to leave.

As Sasori descended the stairs outside, he caught sight of Itachi sitting on the bottom steps of the other stairway coming off the same entrance. Sasori debated whether to talk to him or not, the guy seemed to be pretty lost in thought. All Sasori was going to do anyway was go home and take a cold shower and then do his homework. Since Sasori didn't particularly want to do that anyway, he decided he would talk to his friend.

"…Hey," Sasori greeted, jolting Itachi out of his thoughts and making him look up at the red-head.

"…Hey," Itachi said. "What's up?"

Sasori shook his head. "Why are you sitting out here?"

Itachi looked down before answering. "I don't want to go home just yet."

"Something happen?" Not that Sasori really cared, but this behavior what certainly unusual for the young Uchiha.

Itachi shook his head. "Not really, nothing new at least, just the same old… everything."

Sasori nodded and sat on the steps too, in case his friend wanted to talk, even as an excuse to stick around school a little longer. "Sasuke being a prick?"

Itachi chuckled slightly. "Always, but that's not the problem this time."

"Alright, so what's up?" Sasori asked while leaning back, resting his elbows on a cold step behind him and directing his attention at the sky where gray clouds moved lazily.

Itachi sighed, deciding that it may be worth getting some of his problems off his chest. Sasori was least likely to say anything about it, tell others, or make fun of him in some way. "I have several obligations that require my attention. My mother wants to spend time with me, she also has been wanting to do stuff as a family because we haven't in a while and it might be good for Sasuke to have better family memories while he's still young."

"Makes sense, what else?" Sasori said, urging his friend to take a load off. He had nowhere important to be anyway.

"My girlfriend needs my attention too, I mean come on, we're dating so I should be spending at least some time with her, and she's been wanting to hang out and do stuff with me, but I just haven't had the time. I haven't even had the time to talk to her on the phone and I think she's starting to wonder if something else might be up," Itachi explained.

"I'm sure Suki is willing to wait for you since you're just busy," Sasori reassured him.

"Sasuke needs his training and also needs my attention, but my father keeps making me do things around the house, and still hounds me and Sasuke to train more when he's already given us other tasks. And whenever I have a free moment, my mom asks me to run an errand for her. If I'm already doing something, sometimes she'll say never mind, but usually asks if I have a minute, and it's not like I can say no without getting reamed by my father for being disrespectful and saying that I should do as my mother asks since she doesn't ask for much." Itachi thought for a moment, thinking he was sharing too much with Sasori, but the red-head was studying the sky and half-listening. Sasori had heard most of this stuff before, but it usually wasn't happening all at the same time. "So with everyone needing me around and doing things either with them or for them, the homework and studying is getting kind of heavy with the only time to do it is at night when everyone goes to bed."

"I could tell you haven't been sleeping much," Sasori stated while briefly glancing at Itachi. "You starting to crack under the stress and pressure of your obligations?"

Itachi sighed. "I'm holding up, for now," he admitted. "Just needed a short break," he added and Sasori nodded but didn't move, somehow knowing there was much more for Itachi to say. Deciding that he had said this much, he might as well get the rest off his chest while there's someone to listen, even it is a little uninterestedly. Though uninterested seemed to be preferred at the moment since he really wasn't looking for suggestions. "So you know that my father wants me to join the police squad after I graduate, right?"

Sasori nodded. "Yeah."

"So even though that's what I'm expected to do, my father still wants me to be taking mission and gain more valid experience," Itachi said and noticed his friend's eyebrow raise for a moment. "Yeah, but with everything else, he hasn't given me enough time to do that either. Not that I need more valid experience, everyone on the squad are my cousins and uncles, they remember what I can do." Itachi stopped and looked over at Sasori, making sure he was not irritating his friend with his complaining or making him fall asleep. Neither seemed to be happening. "You guys also want to hang out, but when I've been busy, I know you guys think it's Suki taking up all my time when it's not, and she seems to think you guys and Sasuke take up all my time. Not to mention that I've got my own training to keep up on, and I have to get through the first stages of my senior project before the end of the term and I haven't done much of it yet. On top of it all, I think I might be getting a cold and I have a paper due at the end of the week." Itachi huffed at the end, finally satisfied that he had said most of what was weighing on his mind.

Sasori seemed to understand that. "That's rough," he said. "Going to be moving out soon? I remember you mentioning something a while back."

"I want to, and when I get the chance I've been researching it, but there isn't much in my price range without taking on paid mission nearly every weekend starting now and until the end of the year, which I can't do anyway because of school and all the other stuff," he said. "What about you? Finding anything?"

Sasori thought for a moment. "Same as you, not finding anything I can pay for right now, but my grandma is hardly around half the time anyway, so it's not always so bad. I've found that I can just hide out at Raven's place when I need to sometimes," he said.

"There's an idea, move in with Raven after graduation," Itachi chuckled.

Sasori understood it was a joke and chuckled too. "Sure, and you can just move in with Suki, but then we'd be neighbors and I'm not sure if I'd be cool with that."

Itachi laughed. "Can guys even move in with girls?" he questioned.

Sasori shrugged. "May not be traditional, but really no reason not to," he said. "Which makes me wonder, how do they pay their rent?"

"They probably get help from family and do missions during breaks," Itachi said. "That, or they have enough from inheritance to make the payments," he added.

"Yeah, probably something like that," Sasori agreed and was reminded on his own inheritance from his parents which he hasn't touched.

They were silent for a minute longer until they each spotted few shady looking teens passing by on the sidewalk in front of the school. Itachi and Sasori recognized them as a part of the gang that they would rather see gone.

"Another thing," Itachi started. "Our job of keeping creeps like them away from our turf," he stated.

"That's right," Sasori said, keeping his eye on the guys that obviously didn't know their place and treading area they have been kicked out of many times before. "Think they're looking for a rematch?" he asked.

"For them to come all the way to the high school, probably, they haven't been around in months," Itachi said. "Not that I mind right now, I could go for a good fight." Itachi blinked slowly, activating his Sharingan and reading the chakra of the other guys. "Yeah, they intend to fight, but they haven't spotted us quite yet."

"I'll send a message to the others, who is still here?" Sasori said, readying the jutsu.

"…Just Deidara and Kisame, they're together in the gym," Itachi said before releasing some of the stress on his eyes.

Sasori nodded and activated the jutsu, sending a short message to their friends. The brief flash from Sasori's jutsu made the other guys aware of their presence on the left stairway of the school entrance. "Itachi, I know you're under a lot of stress right now, but remember, do not make the first strike," he reminded as the other guys approached them. Since they are still on school grounds, starting a fight could get them in a lot of trouble, and if they try to use ninjutsu, the teachers will sense it and come to investigate right away, which is something they want to avoid.

"Well, isn't it our old friends," said a guy with white hair tied back into a low ponytail and wearing round glasses, a cocky smirk planted on his face, as well as his companions. One being a somewhat buff guy with brown hair in a high ponytail and wearing a shirt with a large spider on the front. The other guy was tall and thin, with somewhat longish white hair and sickly pale skin and eyes. Their names were Kabuto, Kidomaru, and Kimimaro. They were a part of Orochimaru's private institute for the students he personally selected. It was known to be a shady place. The man used to work as the science teacher in KS, a time when he paid a little more attention to Itachi than he was comfortable with, but he left a few years ago, though he wasn't gone.

"Why are you here?" Itachi demanded, standing and his eyes flashed in warning.

"Looks like the Uchiha prodigy is a little on edge today," Kabuto said, the other two just nodded. "Whoever said we needed a reason to be here, we could just be passing through," he said and pushed up his glasses.

"Too bad that's not the reason," Sasori said standing. "Where's the rest of your group, as well as your leader? There's a deal that we do not enter each others domains."

Kabuto chuckled. "Always were observant weren't you? To answer your question, the boss got busted, doing time behind bars now, and I say deal's off."

"I see, so the others didn't agree to your plan of trying to confront us and are hiding like the weaklings you are," Itachi said coolly.

Kabuto glared. "You better watch it Uchiha, you've got something to lose," he warned. "I would imagine that your little brother wouldn't be much of a match for us all by himself."

Itachi stepped forward, pushing up his sleeves and getting ready to punch in the guy's face, but he was halted by Sasori's arm coming up in front on him. Itachi looked questioningly at Sasori, who silently shook his head.

"And I heard you've got yourself a little girlfriend, Uchiha. Wouldn't want something to happen to her either, would you?" he taunted.

Itachi cracked his knuckles. Somebody better strike first, otherwise he won't be able to hold back much longer. The others better get here quickly too. "You lay a finger on her, and I'll make sure you regret living," Itachi threatened.

"Fine, fine," he smirked and then turned his attention on Sasori who didn't even blink.

"If they're just here to trash talk us, we might as well stop wasting time and get going," Sasori said and began to turn to walk away.

"But what about yours?" Kabuto started and Sasori halted.

"My what?" Sasori glared, looking back at him over his shoulder. Itachi hoped this would be Sasori's breaking point and they could kick these guys asses into next week quickly. Sasori's an impatient guy after all.

"Wouldn't want your little girlfriend to come across trouble, would you?" he taunted.

"She's not really my girlfriend," Sasori muttered, knowing that wasn't quite a lie, they weren't exactly official, and they hadn't discussed it either.

Kabuto laughed and turned to the other two. "Hear that, guess that means she's up for grabs," he said and Sasori glared darkly. "What do you think guys? Think if she didn't go for puppet-freak, that she'd go for a smart guy like me?" he asked them. "Of course, if she refuses, we can always resort to other means," he smirked.

However his cocky smirk was quickly wiped from his face as Sasori punched him upward in the chin and sent him flying back. Kidomaru and Kimimaro quickly went to his side as he shuffled to try to get back up while holding his face. "Just get them!" he demanded and the other two turned to attack.

Itachi ducked under one attack from Kimimaro and then got him in the ribs right before Kabuto caught a lucky blow to the side of Itachi's face, making him stumble slightly. Itachi glared at him, and then reactivated his Sharingan. Now he was serious, and greatly looked forward to the pain he was going to deal to these morons, even if it had to be without ninjutsu.

Kidomaru tried to attack Sasori, but being prepared, Sasori ducked and then kicked the guy's legs out from under him, and then landed a blow to his nose, causing blood to instantly spatter from the area and got onto Sasori's sleeve. Even with his painfully broken nose, the guy still lunged and managed to get Sasori just under his right eye. It appeared Kidomaru's arm had a greater reach. Sasori kneed him in the gut, and watched satisfactorily as he tumbled over in pain. Though Sasori did not waste much time in aiding his friend.

Itachi would admit that he was toying with them a little, just kicking, jumping, punching, and blocking for the joy of it. He caught sight of Sasori giving a signal with a simple wave of his hand and then nodded to the red-head, who then used a charka string to catch their ankles and force them to stop without falling. Itachi used that moment to grab their foreheads and send them spiraling into genjutsu. He didn't even waste his good, more powerful genjutsu on these guys, and when they caught in the genjutsu, both Itachi and Sasori kicked one of them in the side of the head and watched them fall and bleed for a few moments.

"Done already?" Deidara asked as he and Kisame ran up to them.

"Thought they would have been tougher than that, or at least stronger than last time," Sasori said.

Kabuto groaned as he sat up and the others did the same shortly after. As soon as they looked up and found they were now outnumbered and even more outmatched, they wisely took their leave.

"This isn't the end of this!" Kabuto shouted at them. Deidara flipped them the middle finger as they fled.

"Guess we came all the way over here for nothing," Kisame chuckled.

"Sounds like Orochimaru was caught," Sasori said. "We'll have to keep an eye out for anyone from Sound sneaking over here again."

"As long as that creep stays behind bars this time," Itachi started. "We probably won't have to worry about those guys."

"Yeah, just knowing that all of us are still here will keep them away after this, humph," Deidara added.

"We should get out of here before any teachers show up," Sasori said and they agreed and dispersed.

It wasn't until the next day at school that anyone suspected anything, though it wasn't from who they were expecting.

"You have a bruise on your cheek," Suki said as she eyed Itachi's face closely. "How did that happen?"

"Training with Sasuke," Itachi lied.

"He actually got you?" she questioned.

"He's been getting better," Itachi shrugged and then noticed Raven looking at him blankly as she studied him. She knew he was lying, though she didn't know what really happened. When she had seen Sasori's face too, her suspicions increased.

"What happened there?" Raven asked Sasori and pointed at his face to the bruise just under his eye.

"What? Oh this?" Sasori asked as he reached up to touch it. He had forgotten to wash his jacket to get the blood off his sleeve and she saw it as it came into view. "…I fell out of bed last night, no big deal."

Raven's heart fell slightly as she heard that. Not only did he just lie, but he just lied badly and expected her, a stealth and interrogation focused student, to believe that. How stupid did he think she was? "…Oh," she said shortly, accepting his bogus answer for now since class would start soon.

It wasn't until lunch that Suki asked what Raven thought about it while in the ladies room. "Do you think something else happened to the guys yesterday?" Suki asked.

"Yeah," Raven said.

"Good, so it wasn't just me," Suki sighed. "But… they lied?"

"Pretty sure, both of them," Raven agreed. "…But I think I'm going to let this one go," she said.

"What? You're not going to try to find out what really happened?" Suki asked. She, for one, was very concerned and wanted to know.

"All I know is that they must have some reason for hiding what happened, if that reason is valid, we shouldn't pry and trust them," she said. If she hadn't been thinking about it all day, she would have been trying to find out right now. "So until something happens again, I'll let this one go."

"You think it'll happen again?" Suki asked.

"I hope not," Raven said before they moved to leave the restroom.

"I know, I bruise easily," Sasori said as Deidara tried to poke at it while sniggering at the red-head. Sasori quickly swatted Deidara away as the girls sat back down.

"You need to toughen up your skin my man," Deidara said. "What kind of ninja bruises easily?"

Sasori rolled his eyes at the younger man, he really didn't want to be talking about his bruise from yesterday in front of Raven and Suki. "I'm working on it," Sasori gritted. "And besides, I'm a long distance fighter like you, I'm usually not prone to injury," he added. Deidara just shrugged and continued eating his lunch.

"How do you plan to prevent bruising?" Raven asked quietly, since they were sitting next to each other.

Sasori smirked. "I have the most brilliant plan, if you want, you should come to my workshop with me after school today and I'll show you," he said.

Raven nodded slowly. "Sure," she said. There was something about what he said and the way he was saying it that made her worry. She just hoped it wasn't something dangerous.

By the time the last period of the day came around, Raven was itching to know what was going on. She had noticed strange things about the group of guys she was hanging out with since Suki started seeing Itachi and she became friends with Sasori.

Itachi and Sasori had each felt Raven's eyes on them at some point during the class. Itachi found her emotionless gaze a bit unnerving. He could tell she had suspected something since that morning. Since it appeared she and Suki were going to be sticking around for the foreseeable future, it was probably time to reveal some secrets before someone gets hurt, and the girls get involved in something like Kabuto threatened yesterday.

After class, Itachi stopped Sasori at his locker to tell him this. Sasori had nodded grimly in understanding. "I agree, it might be dangerous later for them," Sasori said. "As soon as we get the okay from Pain, we'll fill them in, I'm don't like lying anyway," he said.

"I'm glad you agree, I will talk to him soon, see you Monday," Itachi said and waved goodbye before heading over to his own locker.

"Are you ready to go?" Raven asked from nearby.

Sasori adjusted the strap of his book bag and faced her. "Yeah, let's go."

The walk was rather quiet. He knew she wasn't exactly talkative, but she had been quiet all day, like she was avoiding talking to him. He was aware what he said this morning that probably the worst lie any of them could come up with, but he froze and couldn't think of anything else. He wouldn't blame her for not believing him, or even for being upset that he lied, and poorly. The guys were right, he was a horrible liar.

When they got to his workshop, Raven saw some of the puppets he had been working on either hanging up or in parts laying out on the tables. She looked at them as he walked across the room to spin the dial of a combination lock to one of the storage closets.

"These are the new battle puppets for your project, right?" Raven asked.

Sasori looked over his shoulder and nodded. "Yeah," he answered.

"You should make them scarier," she said.

"Scarier?"

"Yeah, like with more eyes, teeth, or arms or something," she said.

"Maybe I will, but this is what I wanted to show you," he said and opened the closet.

"It's… you?" Raven asked. Why was she looking at another Sasori? One with lifeless eyes and an empty heart. She tore her eyes away from it quickly to keep herself from looking at it much longer and looked at Sasori.

"Isn't it great!" Sasori smirked, not reading Raven's shock correctly. "Once it's done, I will transfer myself to it and become immortal! I will never get hurt, tired, hungry, or old. I will be walking, living art that will remain eternal… true art," Sasori made a fist as he spoke, filled with an artist's passion for his work. When he looked at Raven his face fell, seeing her look of shock, confusion, and something else, perhaps it was anger, maybe sorrow. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's… wrong," she muttered.

"Huh?" he said and looked back at the puppet before looking back at her. "What do you mean, it looks exactly like me, it's perfect," he defended. He even gave it a nice, clean pair of pants and shoes.

"No, your plan, it's just… wrong," she breathed. "Have you really been considering this?"

He was taken aback by this. He thought she would like it and that she shared his view of true art. "Of course, I've been working on this for weeks, it's perfect," he said again.

"No, Sasori, it's not," she tried and looked away.

"Why not?" he glared.

"Don't you know that the meaning of art changes over time no matter what, it's subjective to the viewer and artist no matter what," she said. "Preserving your young form will not keep you the way you are now, you will change, and so will the art."

"But I can be immortal," he said.

"Do you really want to be? To be exactly the same while everything, everyone around you changes and dies?" she questioned and his eyes widened slightly before he looked away briefly. "You will change too, and those changes with tarnish that so called immortality."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Sasori glared.

Raven glared back, that hurt. "You're not so different from Deidara after all. Coming to twisted views of what art really is," she said. Raven didn't want to witness a forever frozen in time Sasori, she wanted to see him grow, mature, and create a real meaning in his life, as a true artist. Not be a piece of art to be subjected to the subjective views of the world, and watching the forever changing world until he become an empty shell, just as empty as the lifeless puppet.

"Don't you see? This is true art, Raven, I will be eternal!" Sasori argued, not understanding why she wasn't agreeing with him. "This is my plan to be a part of eternal art, I've worked so hard on this, and I'm not turning back now!" he glared.

Raven glared and pursed her lips together for a moment while she thought about it. "Okay then," she said. "Guess that means it's over between us, I don't want to see any part of this tarnished piece of work that's forever in denial anyway," she said and began to turn to leave.

He gritted his teeth as his heart sunk into his stomach. "Fine, leave," he told her and turned away from her so he didn't have to watch her walk away. "I don't want to be with someone that doesn't accept me for who I am anyway," he muttered lowly.

That was just the problem, a puppet is not who Sasori is. He's an artist, not art. Raven wasn't going to try to stop him if it was really what he wanted to do, she knew she couldn't anyway, even if he is being rash and selfish, but if she stopped him by force to keep him from making his bad decision, he would resent her for it. So she left, closing the door of the workshop slowly, so only the soft slick of the heavy door indicated that she was gone.

Sasori stared at the puppet of his likeness for several seconds before dropping his head into the palm of his hand, realizing that he didn't really think things through. He didn't know what he wanted to do. He knew he didn't want to be old forever, and if he were to live forever, getting old, mentally at least, would still be inevitable, and he certainly didn't want to become old and crazy, like his grandmother. Maybe he did want to grow, with her, with Raven.

Sasori looked back up at puppet, never so conflicted in his life. He didn't know what to do anymore.

The door of his workshop opened again and Sasori whipped around, hoping Raven returned. Instead, he saw Chiyo coming in so he closed and locked the storage door casually before she would see anything.

"That girl you've been smitten with was just leaving," Chiyo said.

"I know," Sasori said calmly, still facing the storage closet as he spun the dial of the combination lock, and making sure it was secure.

"She looked very upset, though she was trying to hide her face," Chiyo said. "Did you make her cry? Sasori, you should know better than to make a woman cry."

"I know," Sasori said, feeling even worse now.

"Did something happen?" she asked him seriously, the casual tone of her kidding around completely gone.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"I think we should have a serious talk, Sasori," she started calmly. "Sit down." Sasori looked at her, weighing his options, before sitting down and waiting for her to start, since he was going to refuse to talk. "Puppets are interesting pieces of art, aren't they?" she said, looking around at the ones he was working on recently. "Too bad a puppet has no warmth or heart or friendship to offer us," she stated sadly, remembering a time when Sasori was much younger and tried to replace his parents with puppets of their likeness. "Have you ever wondered how you might live the happiest, Sasori?" Sasori only shook his head, in truth he had not considered happiness. It looked like she was going to give him a long lecture, telling him about what she had learned over the course of her long life.

Suki had called Itachi twice and left a message once after she got home from school that day. She was hoping he might have time to do something with her over the weekend, but he had yet to answer her calls or return her message today. She didn't worry about it, Itachi was a busy guy after all, and he seemed to manage his time well. Once he was able to call her back, he would. Until then she would make herself some dinner.

Itachi had several things to do when he got home. He multitasked most of it by writing a study guide and a paper at the kitchen table while talking with his mother and spending a little time with her before she left to run a quick errand before she started dinner. Then he studied the study guide and proof read the paper while training Sasuke. Then he replaced a window pane that was cracked by a stray kunai that Sasuke used to change the direction of a kunai already in the air. Itachi was quite satisfied with himself, he was making pretty good time today, Sasuke even helped with the window so that made it go faster.

However, when their father got home, they were each given an earful about the window, even though it was repaired and refinished right away. It appeared that their father had a bad day at work and brought that foul mood home with him. After ordering Sasuke to go do his homework, he told Itachi that he found him a mission for him to go on over the weekend.

"Father, I do not need help finding missions," Itachi tried.

"I already got you assigned to it, you're going with whoever they assign to be your partner," Fugaku said. "And if you don't need my help, why have you not had a mission in over a month?"

"I've been busy, Father," Itachi explained.

"With what? I know your schoolwork doesn't take up every minute of your time," Fugaku said. Itachi was dumbfounded for a moment. His father didn't seem to realize that he was the one giving so much to do. "You spend too much time with your friends, your little girlfriend too," he added before noticing the fading bruise on Itachi's cheek. "How did you get that?" he questioned.

"It was an accident, it happened yesterday," Itachi explained.

"You were in a fight, weren't you?" Fugaku question and Itachi didn't answer. "Proof that you have been slacking off, Itachi," he said. "You will go on the mission this weekend, I will call the school Monday morning so you will be dismissed from class, you're going to miss Monday."

Itachi sighed. "Yes, Father," he agreed to the mission, though he didn't agree with anything else the man was saying.

"And you need to refocus your time, Itachi, right now," Fugaku stated harshly.

"How so?" Itachi asked, not liking where this was going.

Suki had just finished her dinner when the phone rang, so she put her dishes in the sink and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Suki, it's me," Itachi said quietly.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked casually. "Did you get my message?"

"No I did not," he said. "But we have to talk."

"About what?" she asked. "Are you okay? You're really quiet."

"I'm fine… look, it's not that I don't like you, but I just don't have time for a girlfriend, and I have decided what's really important," Itachi said.

Suki was confused. Was he breaking up with her, and over the phone? "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I have a future to lay the foundation for and I have too many distractions in my life to keep track of, before we go any further…" he paused for a couple seconds.

"Itachi?" Suki breathed.

Itachi sighed, this was hard. "We can't talk or hang out anymore beside at school, so we can't date anymore either," he said. "I have other things I need to focus on, and you are too much of a distraction that is slowing me down and holding me back," he added.

"Oh okay," she said sadly though she still didn't understand. She thought she was giving him all the space he needed so he could manage his time and juggle everything in his life. She did understand one thing, he was breaking up with her, and there wasn't really anything she could say or do about it to convince him that what he said wasn't true. The fact that he said it, maybe she really was a distraction and he's just too nice of a guy to have told her sooner. "I guess this is it then?"

"Yeah," he breathed. "Good bye," he said.

"…Bye," she said and hung up. That hurt more than she thought it would. Though she was sure that was just an excuse to not be her boyfriend anymore. Using his obligations to make it easier. He hadn't been taking her calls for a while now, and they weren't hanging out as much besides at school. She guessed she should have picked up on the clues earlier. He just wasn't interested in her anymore and he had better things to do.

Itachi had hung up the phone, and looked at his father who was standing nearby to make sure Itachi would break it off with the distraction of a girlfriend. Fugaku's Sharingan was ready to punish Itachi if he went against his will.

Itachi knew he could easily take down his father, but also knew the cost would be too great, and in the process of doing such a thing, he would lose Suki anyway since he would either be sentenced to life in prison, death, or exiled. Instead, Itachi simply glared at his father, his own Sharingan flashed with the brief thought of violence against his father, and then he stomped to his room, passing Sasuke on the way who looked at his older brother with concern.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** A lot was addressed in this chapter. The Akatsuki, Orochimaru, Sasori's wanting to be a puppet, and Itachi's heavy obligations, among a few miscellaneous things. Don't you hate it when someone keeps hounding you to do stuff at home and it makes you feel like a slave since you'll get in trouble if you try to say no? I'm sure most do. Will Sasori go through with his plan? Will Itachi snap under pressure? And who will Itachi go with on the mission? Stay tuned to find out.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	10. Meaning of Flowers

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 10: Meaning of Flowers

It was kind of hard to believe at first since it felt like a dream, a bad dream. Suki knew it wasn't a dream though. Itachi had actually just broke up with over the phone despite the fact that they see each other everyday and things had seemed to be going well.

Suki ran to her room and threw herself down on her bed and cried into her pillows. She didn't know why this had to happen or what Itachi was thinking all of sudden. It was hard not to take it personally. He was such a great guy and he treated her perfectly. How could it possibly be him? It was unlikely that he would suddenly decide he was too busy for her. This had to be because there something wrong with her, she just knew it. Suki wondered why all they guys she's ever like had to be like this? She knew what would come next. He would stop talking to her altogether at school, their passes in the hall would become silent and awkward, and then he would start seeing someone else in no time.

A while later, when Suki was just about done crying, she heard a loud slam of her neighbor's front door followed by feeling the shake of the walls of the single story apartment building. Raven had came home in a horrible mood.

Suki moved from her bedroom to the living room to sit on the couch and try to lose herself in the TV for awhile. It did not help as much as she hoped. Her mind kept going back to what had happened and she tried to make sense out of it. It was so sudden and he ended it so easily.

She had heard several crashes, loud bangs, and even a shatter from inside Raven's apartment. Suki knew something must have happened to her too, though she had no idea what. Sometimes the strangest things would finally set off her normally nonchalant friend.

Over the next hour or so, the cats wisely stayed out of Raven's way as she took out her anger at Sasori on inanimate objects around her home every time trying to calm herself and clear her head wasn't working. Eventually she cooled down enough to think, the heat in her head and blood pressure finally dropping to more tolerable levels as she lost energy and drive.

Raven and Suki both felt so stupid and gullible. Suki thought Itachi was different from the other guys she's liked, and Raven actually started to believe Sasori was worth it. There were reasons Raven didn't want to get involved with a guy, and she was finally remembering what they were again.

Deciding that it was safe, Suki ventured next door to Raven's apartment and knocked on the door. Raven knew Suki must have heard the banging from her side of the wall they shared.

"Something wrong?" Suki asked after Raven opened the door.

"Nothing worth mentioning right now," Raven said. "But I see something is wrong with you," she said. It was obvious Suki had been crying and her mascara was smeared slightly, though it had been cleaned up.

"Itachi just broke up with me," Suki said and Raven looked surprised then angry again.

The girls ended up on Suki's couch with a large container of chocolate ice-cream. Their topic of discussion was men. Suki explained what Itachi had said, and Raven also said that it seemed strange for him to use his hectic schedule as his reasoning. Raven also mentioned a little bit about what happened with Sasori today.

"First those idiots lied to us," Raven started, "I was going to ask Sasori about what really happened too, but then he showed me his stupid plan, and he actually expected me to like it and be okay with it? I thought he was smart! But it would appear he is just as stupid as all the rest. I don't think he really thought his plan all the way through, in fact, I know for sure he didn't sit down a think seriously about for even two minutes, if he had, he would have realized how idiotic it was and what the consequences of his actions would be," Raven grumbled.

"If Itachi was SO busy, why did HE ask me out on a date in the first place, and why did HE continue to ask me out?" Suki huffed. "It doesn't make any sense! I thought I was giving him enough space, it's not like I've been one of those needy girls that needs his attention all the time. He has things he has to do, well you know what? So do I, we're all busy! It's senior year, and we all have things we have to get done and be prepared for," Suki sighed. "I had called Itachi a couple times today to let him know that our winter formal pictures arrived," Suki said. "I left a message the second time I called, but when I asked if he got the message when he called to break up, he said he didn't get it yet so he must have not even checked."

"Bet he'll feel like a real jerk when he does hear it," Raven commented.

"He better," Suki said. "I just can't believe how easily it ended."

"Men are stupid," Raven said, taking more chocolate ice-cream.

"Men are jerks," Suki added, also taking more chocolate ice-cream

"Men are stupid jerks!" they both said and then each took a large bite of their ice-cream.

The next morning, Sasori was up very early. He hadn't slept much, his mind was filled with too many thoughts, some good, some bad, and others just conflicting. He had thought long and hard about what Raven had said and what Chiyo had told him the day before. Chiyo had been more metaphorical in her story of finding happiness, but Raven's argument of reasoning had been more direct, but still required some thinking to understand the meaning behind her words. There was obviously a lot she didn't say but wanted to.

It had been a long night for him and he had even got out of bed at one point to stare at his work in the workshop. But now that morning had come, he was too tired to think anymore. Since he was up so early, he decided to take a shower and see if his grandma will make him a weekend breakfast, hopefully he would have an appetite by then. He went through his normal routine and set out his towel and clothes, started the water, and then undressed before getting in. Steam quickly filled the bathroom and he started washing himself before he suddenly stopped and closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the wall.

"Damn," he cursed. Now even the shower reminded him of her, of Raven. Most specifically, their first kiss that cold raining morning. He still didn't know what to do, or what to think and he was getting him nowhere. "Damn it," he cursed.

Itachi had got up and dressed for his weekend long mission to gain some extra cash and valid experience. No one else was awake yet so he left silently. As he left his house, he found Shisui waiting for him.

"Hey, you ready for this mission?" Shisui greeted.

"Yeah," Itachi said calmly. "You're going too?"

"That's right, I heard your father in the office yesterday when I went to check out the extra missions available, so right after he left, I went in and volunteered for this one too," Shisui explained. Since Shisui was still a student teacher, he wasn't making much income so he was taking missions whenever he could as well.

"I see," Itachi nodded. "Then let us be off," he said and Shisui nodded and took the lead. The mission was simple, just escorting a wealthy trader and his son home. Itachi remained quiet, not something that was unusual for him, but Shisui could tell that Itachi had a lot on his mind and grew concerned for his cousin as they traveled.

Itachi was doing fine on the mission by keeping an alert and watchful eye out for thieves and bandits, but he knew he was more distracted than he should be. He was thinking about how he had a paper due on Wednesday that he hasn't even started yet, what each person in his family wanted from him and wanted him to do, what his friends want, what his teachers want, and then his thoughts kept settling back on Suki. He felt rotten for what he had done and more than a little guilty. He knew what he did was a verbal slap in the face, and to have to break up with her over the phone was another slap to add to the wound. Itachi wouldn't blame Suki for hating him instead after what he did. He really hated his father right now.

By the time noon came around, Sasori heard a knock at the front door. His grandmother had left to go to the store shortly before, so Sasori got up from the couch to answer it and was greeted by a rather ticked off Deidara.

"What the hell man?" Deidara started right away. "You were supposed to meet me an hour ago, humph!"

Sasori blinked slowly, his tired mind processing what the younger man was yelling about. "…Oh, that," he started, "I forgot, sorry," he said and moved aside so his friend could come inside and out of the cold winter air.

"You better have a good reason Mister 'I don't like to keep others waiting', I swear if you weren't normally so punctual I might still be waiting for you to NOT show up, because you 'forgot'," Deidara huffed.

Sasori just rolled his eyes and plopped himself back on the couch. He just didn't have the energy to argue with the man. "I said I'm sorry," he muttered bored as he blankly stared at the TV.

Deidara's face fell as he realized that his friend was unusually void of any readable emotion. "Dude, you okay?" First Sasori forgets, acts like doesn't care that he kept some waiting, and he looks like crap. He had never seen his friend ever look so… depressed? Was the always cold and focused Sasori capable of such a feeling? From where Deidara was standing, it appeared so. Guess Sasori was a normal human being after all, just usually kept his feelings well hidden. Whatever the problem was, it must have been serious for Sasori to be like this.

"I'm fine," Sasori said casually. Deidara's eye twitched. Seemed that even if Sasori was feeling different, he still wasn't going to show it. Still typical Sasori.

"Whatever, you're coming with me, Sasori my man," Deidara stated. "Come on!" he urged and opened the door and signaled to get going.

Sasori rolled his eyes and sighed before getting up and putting on his shoes, jacket, and scarf before following Deidara out the door. Whatever this was about, it had to be better than sitting around alone with his thoughts.

After only a minute of walking in silence, Deidara noticed Sasori try to stifle a yawn. "You look like crap, you know that?" Deidara stated, earning him a brief glare from the red-head.

"And you look like a girl from two angles, your point?" Sasori shot back.

"Tsk, touchy, humph," Deidara said. After a few more minutes they reached the park where an empty basketball court was. No one was there because of the cold. "So what's up, my man?" Deidara started.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sasori said and turned away, finding a basketball on the court floor so he picked it up and spun it between his hands, seeing if the ball was any good.

"I'm not as stupid as you apparently think I am, un," Deidara crossed his arms and stared at Sasori.

"You wouldn't understand," Sasori said and passed Deidara the ball.

Deidara caught and spun it between his hands too. "Well sorry I don't understand you like you're girlfriend does, but whether you like it or not, I'm the next best thing to her and I'm right here, humph," he said and tossed the ball back.

Sasori just held the ball this time and faced the hoop. "She's not my girlfriend, and even if she was, she's not anymore," he said and shot the ball, it bounced against the backboard and then against the inside of the hoop before bouncing back out of the hoop and hitting the ground. It didn't go in.

It bounced a couple of times before Deidara caught it before looking at Sasori surprised, even though Sasori didn't meet his gaze and was still focused on the hoop. "Wait, you guys broke up? When?"

"Yesterday," he answered absently.

"But why?" Deidara asked, tossing the ball back as soon as Sasori looked back at him. "You guys were like on the same wavelength, what happened?"

"Well apparently we're not," Sasori said. "She… well I… we had a disagreement," Sasori said.

"Okay, so you two had different views on something. Well you know what? I'm relieved to hear that. It's not good to be too much alike. Seriously I was concerned you might have a thing for selfcest, or at least as close to it as you could find, un," Deidara said.

"Whatever," Sasori muttered then shot the ball again and this time it went in perfectly so he was satisfied.

"So what was the 'disagreement' about?" Deidara asked. He was actually quite curious, whatever it was had to be serious to break up those two. "Did you try to persuade her into something kinky and she thought it was disgusting?" he asked.

"What? No!" Sasori glared.

"Then what happened? Did you propose and scare her away?" Deidara suggested.

"What is wrong with you?" Sasori dropped his head into his hand.

"Tell me, man!" Deidara urged. "Tell me or I'll have to keep guessing," he added.

Sasori dropped his hand in defeat. "Fine, but you can't say anything to anybody about it."

"Sure man, just spit it out already."

"Remember that secret project I've been working on?" Sasori started.

Deidara was able to put the pieces together. "You showed her?" he asked and Sasori nodded. "Ah, I see what happened…" he said. "What did she say about it?"

"She doesn't think it's art, and that my plan was… 'just wrong'," he explained.

Deidara scratched his head and put his other hand on his hip as he thought about it. "Well I agree with her," he said, earning him the glare he knew would come with that statement.

"How could you say that?" Sasori gritted.

"Hey, you and I might have different ideas about what makes true art, but if she thought there was something wrong with it, she's probably right," Deidara shrugged. "Maybe you should think about it more un," he suggested.

"I have!" Sasori snapped at him, "I haven't stopped thinking about it, and I don't know what to do!"

Deidara was actually relieved to finally get a rise out of Sasori. "What do you want to do?" Deidara asked.

Sasori started pacing, thinking about it again. "I don't know…" he muttered before suddenly approaching his friend. "Punch me," he ordered.

"What?"

"Hit me, right now."

"Why?"

"Do it!"

"No!"

"Do it, punch me!"

"Why?" Deidara demanded and backed away. Normally be would be glad to hit him, but this was just weird.

"It'll make me feel better, maybe the answers have to beaten into me, I don't know!"

"I'm not gonna punch you, man!" Deidara said and Sasori turned around and went to the other side of the court. "Look, I think you DO know what you want to do, but you're just conflicted, you'll figure it out, yeah," he said and then noticed that his friend seemed to be trembling. Was he crying? If he was, Deidara knew better than to say anything about it. Since Sasori was so unstable right now, his life might be at risk if he says anything. "Well I'm going home," Deidara said. "You're in no condition to work on the project right now anyway, later, and good luck my man, humph," Deidara shoved his hands into his pockets and left Sasori there. This whole encounter was so weird, Deidara was unsure if it really happened as he left. He had never seen Sasori like this before.

After dark the very next day, Shisui and Itachi were heading back home after completing their mission. Shisui took this opportunity to try to talk with Itachi. They don't get many chances to chat anymore and now seemed like a good time since it was just the two of them on the same path with the same destination in mind. Shisui had grown quite concerned as he watched the blankness in Itachi's eyes, like there was no one home inside his mind, that is how lost in thought he was.

"Going to fill me in on what's been going on in your life?" Shisui asked casually.

Itachi sighed. He had been thinking about how much he should share over the course of the entire mission. Now he just thought it might be best to get it all off his chest and tell him what happened.

"He threatened you with his Sharingan?" Shusui asked after Itachi filled him in. "He was that upset over you doing a little dating? You're not even falling behind in school or anything." Shisui thought Fugaku was being ridiculous.

"I don't think he was upset, he's just being a douche," Itachi said. It felt good to say that.

Shisui chuckled slightly at that statement. "Surprised a war didn't break out between you two right there, that man is messing with a dangerous fire. Has he forgotten how powerful you are, he'd be no match for you," he said.

"I don't know what he's thinking," Itachi said bitterly. "But I can't say the thought of taking him on didn't cross mind," he admitted. "But going against him won't solve anything and I know it, it would probably just make things worse."

"Itachi, you're a smart, capable guy, and everyone knows that your father shouldn't be so controlling, if you don't think standing up to him won't work, you only have about four more months until you graduate," Shisui said, trying to get Itachi to look at the bright side.

"I might not be able to get out of the house fast enough though, you know what my options are, and they're slim at best," Itachi said.

"You know, I was going to wait awhile longer before bringing this up, but how about you come live with me after you graduate?" Shisui offered. "Still be in the same neighborhood with the rest of the Uchiha, but if even just until you get your own place, it might do you some good to get out of your folk's house for awhile and be your own man," he added.

"I don't know, you think they will accept that?" Itachi asked. It seemed like a great offer, very tempting, but Itachi could already hear his father's argues against it.

"I think so, at least the rest of the clan will accept it," Shisui said and Itachi just shrugged. "Hey, I might have had a promising career in the family police and guard force, but I actually didn't want to do that," he explained. "Even though I wasn't able to get myself out of it until recently, when I decided to try being a teacher for a while instead, the rest of the clan has been very supportive in my choice," he said. "If they supported me with that choice, they'll support you too."

"I don't know what to do," Itachi admitted.

"Well, think about it," Shisui smiled. "If you come live with me, you'll have all the time you want to figure out what you want to do with your life, without the extra pressure constantly hovering over you as often," he said.

"That does sound pretty good," Itachi said, he could even taste that freedom a little bit already.

"I would have to make some rules about bringing girls over," Shisui chuckled.

"Not a problem, I had to break up with Suki, remember?" Itachi then sighed and let his head fall back for a moment. "I want to tell her the truth, she shouldn't have to go on thinking what I told her was real, it was such a lame excuse, but as long as my father knows, I can't keep seeing her… I'm just so conflicted and I don't know what to do and I haven't been able to get it off my mind…"

"You know…" Shisui started with a sly smirk. "There's a thing called going behind the old man's back… rebellion."

"I… actually like the thought of that," Itachi admitted thoughtfully.

"That's the spirit!" Shisui knew he might not be the best influence right now, and if Fugaku found out that he suggested this, he was going to get into some real trouble himself. Shisui decided that if that happened, it would be time to use the power and respect he is gained within the clan to help out his cousin.

"I know how easily I could get caught, because of how closely I'm watched whenever my father suspects anything might be up," Itachi said. "But I will have to think about it. Hopefully I'll come to a decision before I see her after we get back."

"Good luck," Shisui offered.

When Monday came, neither Itachi or Sasori showed up at school. Itachi was excused for still being on the mission, he would be back sometime that day though. Sasori was unknown.

Raven thought that Sasori might have gone ahead with his plan already, despite her warnings, and that he was in the process of becoming an immortal cheap piece of so-called art. She wondered if any of this other friends knew about his plan. Since the girls didn't have lunch with their ex-boyfriend's friends this time, Raven decided to ask Deidara during the senior training period.

"Do you know where Sasori is today?" Raven asked Deidara who just looked confused for a moment. "Has he said anything about a secret project to you?" she asked. Sasori had many projects, so that could have meant anything, but she was thinking about this most recent big one.

Deidara shook his head. "Sorry, I don't know what he's up to today," he said truthfully, but he also seemed kind of concerned.

Suki was actually glad that Itachi didn't come to school that day. She wasn't ready to face him and this gave her a little more time to deal with what had happened and prepare herself for their necessary encounters coming up at school.

Sasuke seemed a little more distant than usual during her Intro to Sensei class with team seven, so Suki thought that the younger brother knew what had happened and wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about it either. Isn't there rules about being around your sibling's ex? He wasn't sure, so he was just trying to stay out of it and pretend like nothing was different. Still awkward though.

Since Suki didn't have anything going on after school, she had gone home after senior training, so Raven walked home after school.

As Raven approached her apartment, she was surprised and confused by what was waiting for her. Sasori was sitting on her porch steps, waiting for her. At least he didn't look like a puppet as far as she could tell.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Better not be to try to convince her that he was right, as the weekend passed she had only thought of even more reasons why he shouldn't do it. She considered the benefits as well, but determined there wasn't enough.

Sasori looked up and stood suddenly when he heard her speak and then waited while she approached the steps, and him, before holding out a red rose, but remained silent.

Raven looked at the rose and then back at him, processing the meaning of this action. After several dreadfully long seconds, she took the rose and motioned for him to follow her the rest of the way inside so they could talk privately where it is warm and she could put down her stuff. They both knew they were in for a long and serious discussion. They were going to directly define a lot between them.

It wasn't long before it started getting dark. Just after it got dark enough for lights to come on, Suki heard a knock at her door so she moved to answer it. She found a very tired looking Itachi waiting on the other side.

She frowned. "What do you want?" she asked.

"I want to apologize, I didn't mean what I said over the phone, and I need to explain what really happened," he started off and presented her a bouquet of various pink flowers. It was Shisui's suggestion to pick them from the fields they passed when they were getting close to home. It made for a very special and unique bunch of flowers. And he knew that she liked pink.

Suki leaned against the doorframe, noting that he looked dirty and smelled musky, like hard working sweat. She mentally cursed the fact that he was still sexy while she was mad at him. "So what happened?" she asked.

"Can we talk inside?" he asked.

Suki remained leaning against the doorframe for couple seconds before taking the flowers and moving inside and motioning him inside too.

Another hour later, after all the explaining had been done and they were back together, with the understanding that they would have to very private and secretive about their relationship so his father doesn't find out too soon.

"If Raven and Sasori were still together, we could have asked them for tips for how to stay hidden," Suki commented as she led Itachi to the door.

"They broke up?" Itachi asked, thoroughly surprised.

"Oh yeah, you've been gone," Suki said.

"Hmm, I'll have to talk to him about it soon," Itachi said.

Suki nodded. "Yeah, well thank you for the flowers, and I'm glad we are still able to see each other, even if it will be a little differently," she said.

"Yeah, things will get better, just give me a little time," he said and she nodded. "But you know… we're behind closed doors right now," he smirked. Suki giggled softly when he leaned in and kissed her. It was just going to be the one kiss, but he came back as soon as their lips parted for a few more, but then they turned to deep, long kisses that had them using the wall by the front door for support. He was making up for not kissing her in a while.

"I-Itachi," Suki managed to pull away enough to say seriously. "You have to go," she reminded.

"Huh? Oh yeah," he said and stepped away. "Don't want to raise suspicions already," he chuckled.

"See you later," Suki waved as he finally stepped out the door.

"Bye," he waved back. After Suki closed the door, Itachi turned around and was about to head for the steps leading off Suki's porch when he saw Sasori mid step on the bottom step of Raven's porch. "Hey… I heard you guys broke up?" Itachi asked confused as to why Sasori would be here.

"She wasn't my girlfriend in the first place," Sasori said as Itachi joined him on the walkway leading to the street. It was getting weird how often they were walking this path together. It wasn't exactly a wide pathway either.

"Whatever," Itachi brushed off Sasori's statement with a wave of his hand.

"She is now," Sasori added with a smirk.

Itachi looked at the red-head surprised. "Alright then, good to know you worked it out."

"I assume you were fixing things with Suki just now?" Sasori asked. He didn't know the other couple had broken up either until Raven just told him a bit ago.

"Yeah, but now we're going to have a more hidden relationship," Itachi explained and noticed Sasori's questioning glance. "I'll explain more tomorrow, I have to get home and I'm exhausted from my mission."

Sasori nodded and waved to his friend. Both reflected on how long and tough of a weekend it had been, but it ended up better in the end. Guess that means only more interesting things are yet to come.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yes, the drama is finally over for now. It's not really my thing, but my friend requested a high school romance story after all. Bromance, however, is. So there's some Shisui and Itachi as well as some Sasori and Deidara bromance in this chapter.

Fair warning, coming up on the end soon. Keep letting me know what you think by review or message, thanks for the support guys.


	11. In the Spring Breeze

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 11: In the Spring Breeze

The weather was quickly warming up as winter ended and certain flowers were blooming again. Spring had begun as did the spring term at KS. Some weeks passed since the couples got back together. Their schedules were pretty much the same with the new term, and a few new classes as they finished up, and spring extracurricular groups started up once again.

Itachi joined the swimming team with Kisame. Itachi did the search and rescue event where he has to dive, swim, and hold his breath to find specific things in the water and bring them back in the fastest time. Kisame was doing the endurance and speed swimming events for the team.

Raven was in archery, fourth year in a row now for her, as she hoped to get on the official ninja sniper squad after high school. She recently received an offer from the interrogation squad, and she had until graduation to decide whether or not she wanted to join that too.

Suki was no longer on the cheer team for spring term. Instead she joined the tennis team like she did last year, because she had a lot of fun last year when she did it. As an intelligence and stealth focused student, she was hoping to get a paperwork job after high school, maybe something where she can organize, because she liked organizing.

Sasori was elected president of the Arts and Crafts club, much to Deidara's disappointment. Deidara had wanted to be elected this term and Sasori didn't even want it anyway. For after high school, Sasori got offers to join either weapons development or the lab to work with poisons among other dangerous chemicals and solutions. Even though he was a combat and stealth focused student, it appeared that the factions that remain behind the battlefields wanted to make use of his skills. He had a lot to consider and think about before graduation.

Sasori had taken Raven out on a real date shortly after they became official not long ago. It had been a simple dinner and an evening stroll until they reached her place. He felt that he owed her a few dinners anyway from the times she either made or brought him dinner when they were working on various side projects.

While that couple was getting slightly more public about their relationship by going out on official dates together every now and then, Itachi and Suki had to pretend to be just friends as much as they could in public and keep a mindful eye out for anyone that might tell Fugaku of Itachi's disobedience. Itachi had found that he a lot more support in this than he first thought. Not only did he have Shisui on his side, but all of his friends covered for him, and even Sasuke was covering for him at home. It appeared that his younger brother wasn't approving of their father being so controlling either, especially when it was effecting him as well. Sasuke knew better than anybody that Itachi could handle just about anything, including having a girlfriend and being responsible about it, but he didn't understand how their father was ignoring that fact.

It wasn't long after the couples had got back together when Itachi and Sasori got Pain's permission to tell the girls more about their group and what really happened the day the guys had each got a bruise. The girls were naturally surprised that they were really the infamous Akatsuki that people whispered rumors about every once in a while. Even Mr. Kazuku, the school's accountant and financial adviser, and the Ag teacher, Mr. Zetsu were a part of it. They were even told how it was Pain that got them all together, but each member of the group still had their own goals as they cooperated with Pain's goal of peace through power from the shadows. Suki was sure that this was another thing that Itachi was hiding from his father.

At the end of the third week of the spring term, everyone seemed to already be busy with everything going on with school, final projects, and getting prepared for what to do after graduation. After school, Sasori and Deidara wrapped up a quick Arts and Crafts club meeting to make sure people were working on their piece for the art show. Right after that, Sasori had gone looking for Raven in the library. They had received their survival hiking trip team assignments that day right as classes ended and he finally got around to looking at his assignment and found that he got his first choice for teammates. The week before, they got to request their teams, and Sasori got his choice to be with Raven, and they were also on the same team as Itachi and Suki.

It appeared that Raven wasn't in the library, and he even checked their little hiding spot in the back corner among the shelves of books that hardly anyone used anymore. They had only gone back there a couple times for some privacy, but he thought it was worth a shot to check there anyway.

Deciding that her archery practice must still be going, he headed over to the lower field to see her. He got there in time to see her shoot her last arrow from the other side of the fence by the gate to get into the field. It was a perfect shot and her team applauded as she lowered her bow.

"Hey Raven, your boyfriend is here again," one of her female teammates giggled.

Raven looked over at him and waved and he waved back. After she retrieved her arrows from the target, she approached him. "What's up?" she asked him through the chain linked fence.

"Want to head over to Itachi and Kisame's swimming thing with me?" he asked, figuring they could talk along the way and without the whole archery team watching.

"Sure, we just finished up, I'll go put my stuff away and meet you back here," Raven nodded.

Soon they were heading to the indoor pool connected to the gym where they also have their senior class training period.

"So when do you think it'll be our turn to go on the survival hiking trip?" Sasori asked as they walked.

"Depends on when the teams that go before us get back, but since we got our assignment already, I assume our turn is coming up soon," Raven said.

"Yeah, me too," Sasori said, "I have a feeling it will be really easy," he added.

"Yeah, as seniors it should be easy, we are far more advanced than an average freshman," she said. "We could even take the shortcuts and enjoy the scenery."

"I remember doing this trip freshman year and I came home so exhausted, but last year I was just fine by the time my team was done," Sasori said. "Goes to show how much more stamina we accumulated over the years."

Raven just nodded as they entered the pool area. The team's practice and warm up was just finishing up and it looked like the team was making some pretty good times and might win the competition if they keep it up.

The other guys had come to watch the meet too. Pain and Konan were sitting on some bleachers while Hidan, Deidara, and Tobi were standing by them and talking. Sasuke was already there, he was sitting by Suki so he could watch the events his brother would be in. Both Suki and Sasuke were only interested in Itachi's competition that he was participating in.

Sasori went over to his friends to wait for the event to begin. It appeared to be starting shortly. "Hey," he said when he stepped next to Deidara and making his presence known.

"Hey, you came, yeah," Deidara smirked. "Where's your girlfriend?"

Sasori looked over to his other side, where Raven had been moments before, and found that she was gone. He noticed that she tended to do that, just disappear sometimes. It was still taking some getting used to. Sasori looked over behind Deidara to nearby bleachers and spotted Raven talking to Suki. "She's over there talking to her friend, why do you always ask me that? It's not like she has to be glued to my side just because we started dating, dumbass," Sasori said as Tobi wandered over to say hi to the girls.

Deidara merely shrugged as he watched Tobi happily go over there. "Just trying to figure you two out, un."

"Figure out what?" Sasori questioned.

"I dunno, like how serious you are and you how you guys work," Deidara tried to explain, but Sasori's confused expression showed that it wasn't making much sense. "Humph," Deidara said as he folded his arms over his chest and dropped the subject.

Sasori looked over at Raven again as she laughed with her friend at something Tobi said. "Sasori," Pain started and Sasori looked back to him. "Do you know what Raven's focus of study is?" he inquired.

"Yeah, she's both stealth and interrogation," Sasori answered. "Why?"

"I was wondering how those two might be of use in our… organization," Pain said. Sasori, Deidara, and Hidan stared wide-eyed at their leader for a couple seconds. Konan seemed to already know about this.

"You mean… you're considering having them join?" Deidara asked surprised.

"Yes," Pain answered and put his arm around Konan.

"Do you think they can handle it?" Hidan asked.

Pain simply tilted his head to the side for a moment. "I cannot say, not yet," he said, meaning he was still considering it. "You know them better than I do, Sasori, what do you think?"

Sasori looked over at the girls again before looking back and thinking a moment. "Probably," he said and Pain nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hey Raven, what kind of grades do you get?" Hidan asked her, making Sasori and Deidara stiffen for a moment as they realized she was now back at Sasori's side.

"Why?" she asked.

"Don't you get mostly A's?" Sasori asked as he slipped an arm around her waist, making sure he would know when she leaves again.

"Yes," she answered.

From Deidara's point of view, it appeared as though Sasori just happened to know she was standing right there again as he had put his arm around her and began talking to her like she never left. It was bazaar.

"How do you do that?" Deidara questioned them both. They both just looked at him and he shrank back. They both had equally blank cold gazes that looked right into him and he found that look creepy. Individually, Sasori always beat him at everything and made him feel stupid at times, and then with Raven, he was aware that she must be a scary woman to handle and guy like Sasori let alone date him willingly. As a couple, they kind of scared Deidara.

No one answered and the subject was dropped as the events were about to start and everyone sat down. Sasori went with Raven as she went over to sit by Suki.

The girls chatted while Sasori yawned and leaned back on the bleacher row behind him that was mostly empty besides Sasuke, but he was over to the other side of Suki on that row.

Itachi's event came up right after the speed swimming event. Itachi just got up to congratulate Kisame on getting a winning time when a group of girls up in the bleachers started cheering for Itachi, as well as swoon over him when he pulled off his hoodie leaving him shirtless with red and black swim trunks.

"Oh wow," Suki sighed as she watch her boyfriend step up by the pool where he talked to Kisame. "Look Raven, I told you! Don't you think he's hot?" Suki giggled as she pointed out her boyfriend's fit physique.

"Hard to say otherwise," Raven chuckled at her friend.

Even though Raven was just agreeing with her friend, Sasori didn't like what was being implied. Sasori was instantly jealous. Sure, he's known that girls think that Itachi is attractive and it's never bothered him before, just this time it did for some reason. It didn't help that Itachi had a group of fan girls squealing over him. That only furthered Sasori's insecurity.

"Hey, Tobi is cheering too!" Suki laughed as Tobi jumped around with the cheering girls who were just there to see Itachi with his shirt off. It appeared that Tobi just wanted to make noise and wave his arms about and he wasn't particularly sure what he was cheering for as he was just shouting 'splash' over and over.

Raven laughed too until she looked over at Sasori who appeared to be pouting with his arms folded over his chest.

Kisame pointed out the fans to Itachi while they were by the pool waiting for Itachi's event to start. Itachi thought they were cheering because he was getting really good times and is likely to win his part of the competition, and more people always show up to meets when the team is doing well.

Kisame was a little jealous that Itachi was getting all the attention and he hadn't even won yet, but he understood why the girls were cheering and it was nothing new to him. In fact, he found it somewhat amusing since Itachi, being so smart, didn't know what the girls were really cheering about. Kisame thought it was a bit dense of Itachi to not realize that the group of girls were cheering for him because he's got his shirt off and not for his good times.

Both guys saw Tobi cheering and dancing around, just having fun, and so they laughed at that. Itachi waved to his girlfriend right before be got into position to wait for his event to start.

Itachi finished with his best time yet, even his competitors knew they were doomed to lose already. Winning caused the fans to cheer even more and Itachi just waved with one hand as he brushed his hair out of his face with the other and he went to pick up his towel. He didn't bother to dry off completely, and just put the towel behind his neck and over his shoulders and pat his face dry.

Suki sighed dreamingly as she watched him walk by, dripping wet and flushed from the exercise.

After the rest of the events were done, Itachi and Kisame met up with their friends once they were dried and dressed. They were all going to go out together as celebration for starting strong this term. Sasuke was dragged along too, but this time he didn't protest as much. They were only out together for about an hour, they all still had homework to deal with after all.

Sasori got home as it started getting dark. "I'm home," he said while slipping off his shoes.

Chiyo looked up from the kitchen table, "I see that," she said. "I hope you were out with a girl."

"As a matter of fact, I was, as well as my friends," Sasori said. "The swim team had a meet today, a couple friends were participating and did quite well."

"You were watching men swimming? You need to get yourself a girlfriend," Chiyo commented.

Sasori just sighed as he went to the refrigerator. "Actually, I do have a girlfriend," he told her.

Chiyo looked up at him for a moment and then raised an eyebrow. "You? No way, you must be lying," she said skeptically.

Sasori's eye twitched. "What? No, I'm not, I really do have a girlfriend," he said.

Chiyo stared at him, determining whether he was being sarcastic or not. "Still don't believe you," she shrugged.

He threw his arms in the air, frustrated, and then went straight to his room with a bottled water, giving up on the subject. This old woman was impossible.

The next day at school was normal for a little while, but then Itachi, Sasori, Raven, and Suki were told to report for their survival hiking trip assignment. They were told that they just needed to find and retrieve both a blue and red flag with KS's insignia on them and return by Sunday afternoon for full credit, with or without the flags. The group was immediately deployed and given one hour to get their packs and meet at the starting location at the base of the mountain.

With packs and enough supplies to last a couple days, they were hiking up the woody mountain in no time. The trip is usually long, lasting a couple days, but as seniors they have much more skill and stamina to walk up cliff sides and across water to get to their destinations without getting as tired easily.

"The weather is so nice!" Suki commented. "Perfect for a hiking trip, not too hot and not too cold…"

"And the breeze is just right," Raven added. "I was actually looking forward to this trip, I enjoy hiking."

Itachi and Sasori nodded, agreeing that it was actually a very nice day. They couldn't have asked for a better time to do this trip. Instead of a jacket, Sasori had on a vest over his plain white shirt and Itachi's jacket was shoved into his pack. Raven had a red tank top over a gray shirt and Suki had a on a pink tank top with her usual pink skirt, but opted to leave her usual pink hair ribbon at home so she wouldn't risk losing it.

"Two years ago it was raining when on one of my survival hiking trips, the entire time," Itachi said.

"The last time it rained when I went was back in junior high, but that was when we only did one day trips in groups of three and with a teacher," Sasori said. "Last year my group was one of the last to go, so it was almost summer break and really hot. Deidara wouldn't stop complaining, I seriously thought about murdering him and burying him somewhere out here," Sasori grumbled at the memory.

"The rain isn't so bad," Raven laughed softly as she shrugged slightly. Sasori blushed at Raven's rare cute moment, and he remembered their first kiss which was in the rain. "Of course, that is coming from a water type ninja," she added with a sidelong glance.

"You water types," Sasori chuckled.

"Hey, I'm a water type too!" Suki raised her hand.

Itachi laughed and put his arm around Suki's shoulders and walked with her. "He knows, I think he means it as a compliment," he smiled.

Sasori nodded, "I find you water types to be an interesting breed," he added with a smirk while Raven rolled her eyes. "Though I think all of us here have some water type," he said.

"That's right," Itachi nodded and they continued walking for a bit. "This trip is going to be easy isn't it?" Itachi sighed.

"How boring," Sasori said.

"Doesn't mean we can't have fun while we're out here," Raven said.

"Hey, I know!" Suki jumped and turned to face them with a smile. "Let's have a picnic!"

"Huh?" Both of the guys questioned.

"Sounds like an idea," Raven nodded. "In fact, I thought someone might suggest something like that so I came prepared with a few useful items."

"Huh?" Sasori said confused. He was still stuck on the idea of a picnic while on a graded mission.

"Well, if that's what you want to do, I don't see why not," Itachi said as Suki nodded happily.

"I'm sure we have plenty of time," Raven said.

"Alright, guess all we need to do is find a good place by lunch time," Itachi said.

Lunch was still a couple hours away so they were able to cover a lot of ground by then. They cleared the woods and was crossing though a plain on their way to the lake. Before reaching the woods that would come before the lake, they found a large grassy area with scattered trees. In the shade of one tree, where the grass wasn't growing as high, they laid down a picnic blanket and rested.

Suki shuffled through her bag and pulled out a couple containers. "You see, I had just made these brownies and cookies so I thought it would be a shame to let them get stale at home while I'm away, so I brought them along to share," she said.

"And I brought napkins and sandwiches for everyone," Raven said and opened up a container packed with sandwiches. "And here's some water flavoring and a couple other snacks," she said.

"How did you know you might need all this?" Sasori asked.

"Had a hunch," she shrugged. "Here," she said offering him and water packet. "Trust me, it helps on the refilled water from out here since it sterilized and flavors it," she said and he took it to add to his water bottle. "You should have a brownie too," she said while Suki offered him some.

He took one and nodded, "Thanks," he said.

"There's plenty more where that came from," Suki smiled.

It wasn't long until they were done eating. The girls put the leftover stuff away and in their packs and left them off to the side of their shaded picnic area. Everyone even decided to take off their shoes and leave them with the packs for awhile to not dirty the blanket and help themselves relax for awhile.

There was a warm breeze in this area. It was very relaxing so their break lasted a bit longer than they intended, especially when half of the team fell asleep. Suki had been leaning against Itachi when she drifted off. Itachi was just leaned back on one of his hands, very relaxed as he watched the leisure sky. Sasori had taken the opportunity to lay down for a bit to relax, using Raven's lap as a pillow. After a somewhat stressful week and staying up late, the warm air just kind of lured him asleep.

"This is pretty nice," Itachi commented quietly, aware that the two were sleeping and thought it would be best to let them rest.

"Yes it is, very relaxing," Raven said quietly as the breeze moved through her hair and past her skin gently.

"It's like… we don't have to worry about anything out here," Itachi added.

Raven looked over at him for a moment, "I guess that would be true, there's no one out here but us, all we have to do is get the flags and return in two days, we have plenty of time relax," she said.

"Yeah," Itachi nodded. "I wonder… if it'll be alright?" he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Hmm?" Raven looked at him briefly and found that he was now focused on the sky again, so she let the silence that followed continue for a bit longer.

It wasn't long until Sasori jolted awake. He hadn't meant to fall asleep and was a little embarrassed until he found that he wasn't the only one.

Suki just kind of opened her eyes and stretched. "That felt great," Suki sighed. "Nothing like a good cat nap to get you energized again."

Itachi chuckled softly before helping her up. After they all got their shoes and packs, they continued moving until it was time to set up camp. It had taken a while to cross the lake on foot, and once they did, the sun was starting to set.

The girls set up a tent while the guys set up another tent. Then the guys gathered up some wood and sticks so Raven could start a campfire and Suki got some water from the lake to begin sterilizing. All that didn't take very long so Raven volunteered to patrol the area before coming back to rest. Sasori went with her since he had nothing to do at the moment beside maybe stand guard, but there wasn't any real threat out here. There was also the fact that he didn't want to feel like a third wheel if he was left alone with Itachi and Suki.

"What do you think they talk about?" Itachi asked absently as he watched Sasori and Raven walk away from his place near Suki at the campfire.

"I think comic books, art, television, jutsu, cats, and whatever else they like," Suki answered.

"That can't be all they talk about," Itachi said.

"Well, what do you think they talk about?"

"Probably us and the others too, and Sasori is likely complain about his home life," Itachi said.

"His home life probably isn't as bad as yours from what I know of," Suki said.

"Well, it's not that my home life is bad, just…" Itachi trailed off.

"Just what?" Suki urged.

"We're alone," Itachi said in a completely different tone. The thought just dawned on him. He had hoped for some alone time with Suki during this trip. In fact, he was even thinking about asking Raven if she could distract Sasori for a little while so he and Suki might get a few minutes of privacy.

"…Yeah?" Suki said, not getting it. Itachi just smirked at her as he continued to think about it. "Oh!" she laughed. "You're right, it's so weird, we haven't been alone together in a while."

"I know, and I say we not waste this opportunity…" he said and came closer to her and capturing her lips in a longing kiss.

Sasori and Raven weren't gone for very long, so they found it strange when they returned and found that their friends were no longer by the campfire and nowhere to be seen.

"How odd," Raven said as she approached her tent and then looked inside. "She's not in here, guess she went out for a bit too," she said not worried about it. Raven moved to pick up her pack and take in inside her tent so she could get really to sleep for the night.

Sasori scratched his head but did not think much of it. He wasn't worry about it either, they could take care of themselves. Sasori went of to his and Itachi's tent and opened the tent door to check if Itachi was in there sleeping already.

As soon as he opened the door he let it fall closed again and backed up quickly. Sasori found them, they hadn't left the campsite after all and were currently making out in one of the tents. Sasori rolled his eyes and moved to pick up his own pack to take with him to Raven's tent.

He wasted no time in letting himself in and rolling out his sleeping mat. Raven just looked at him wondering what the heck he thought he was doing.

"Itachi and Suki are in the other tent," Sasori said.

"Ah," Raven said, understanding what happened. She wasn't surprised.

"Yeah, so if she's taking my spot, whatever, I'll just sleep here since I'm not going to wait around until their done, I hate waiting," he said. "And I'd rather sleep by you instead anyway," he muttered but she still heard it and laughed softly at his comment.

"I suppose that makes sense," she said. "And don't worry, I don't snore either."

"Even if you do, it can't be as bad as Deidara…" Sasori grumbled at the memory of having to share a campsite with him, and they didn't even share a tent. "And each of his mouths drool…"

Raven laughed. "Wow, that must suck for him," she said.

Sasori decided that he actually kind of liked this sleeping arrangement better. Sleeping near another guy seemed weird now that he's older. And this way he gets to be closer to Raven. He arranged his things by laying out his mat, removing his vest and shoes, and setting his pack where his head would be and placing his vest over it to make a pillow.

He sat down and looked over at Raven, who was brushing her hair. Sasori had only even seen Raven with her hair down once and that was at the winter formal dance, but even then it was curled. He didn't realize how long it actually was when it was naturally straight.

"What?" Raven asked when she noticed he was watching her.

"You have really long hair," he said eying the dark blonde locks that slipped through the brush.

Raven blinked confused as to why he just stated the obvious. "I know," she said and he blushed slightly feeling embarrassed as he realized how stupid he sounded. She then tied her hair in a low ponytail and laid down. "Night, Sasori," she said.

"Yeah, night," he said and laid down. They had just closed their eyes for less than minute when they heard some sounds coming from the other tent nearby. "Hey, do you want to take a walk?" Sasori asked suddenly.

"Yes, very much," Raven said sitting up quickly. As soon as they got their shoes, they got out of there quickly.

Sasori and Raven walked to the lake and sat down in the sandy rocks. "I like the country night sky, you can actually see the stars without street lights and stuff. Do you ever wonder how many stars there are?" Sasori asked.

"They're countless," Raven said.

"Heh, I know," Sasori chuckled.

"Bring able to cross this lake sped up our travel time a lot," she said.

Sasori looked out over the blackened lake. "Yeah."

Raven stood up and walked out onto the water. "I wonder if Itachi and his team have ever practiced in a lake before?" she questioned.

Sasori felt his jealousy rise again at the thought of the kind of attention Itachi gets from girls, including Raven, when he's on the swim team. "Doubt it, why would they do that?" Sasori muttered.

Raven raised an eyebrow at him, hearing his sudden change in attitude. "Practical application of their skills," she said simply.

"Oh, right," Sasori said and looked away.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing."

Raven glared at him for a moment. "Fine then," she said. "Want to see a new jutsu?" she asked.

"Sure," he said.

"Come here." Sasori sighed and stood up and went out onto the water too. "Okay, you might get a little wet," she said and he looked at her shocked but before he could say anything else, he felt the water hit him. Then he stood there and looked annoyed for a few second while she laughed. "Sorry, sorry, that was a lot more water than I thought," she said.

Sasori just smirked and shook his head before he started walking back to where he had been sitting. "And what was that supposed to do besides get me wet?" he asked.

"Well, normally it's a lot more water and it would force the opponent back, just now I tried to take only a tiny bit but it was still more than intended," she explained and then raised as eyebrow at him again as he started taking off his shirt. "What are you doing?"

"I kind of don't want to catch a cold out here," he said after taking it off. He then looked at her and noticed her blush in the darkness, causing him to smirk smugly. Since he was still jealous over her agreement to Suki's comment about Itachi, Sasori didn't mind showing off a little for his girlfriend while he had the opportunity.

"You think the other two are done sucking face? I want to sleep," Raven said, averting her eyes as Sasori rung out his shirt.

"I hope so," he said while examining his shirt.

"Here, I can dry that for you," she offered. He just gave it to her and she used a jutsu to pull the water out of it, the jutsu was meant to use on people as a lethal attack, but it worked on clothes too.

"Thanks," he said and instead of putting it on right away, he threw over his shoulder, gave her a quick kiss, and then put his arm around her so they walk back to camp. She blushed at the contact while he was still without his shirt. He had put his shirt back on once they got to the tent.

The next morning they woke up facing each other and very close. Her arms were tucked between them and he had one arm over her as his nose was touching her hair.

The other two woke up in a similar way. Suki was using Itachi's shoulder as a pillow and he was on his back with his arms around her. They hadn't been kissing all that long the night before, but he didn't originally plan to move to the tent. He hoped it didn't irritate Sasori, but he was also glad that Sasori hadn't interrupted them. In that case, it would have been Itachi angered instead.

They didn't talk about the sleeping arrangement that morning and just got straight to work on finding the flags. Itachi and Suki headed off one direction and then Sasori and Raven headed off the other direction. The plan was to meet back at the campsite by lunch.

Itachi and Suki found the blue flag, which was much further away than they thought. The flag was on the side of a cliff. On the way back down, Suki had stumbled on the very last step where she meant to hop to the ground, but her toes caught on a rock instead and she would have fallen a long way if Itachi hadn't caught her.

"Are you okay?" he asked and started to put her down on her feet slowly. He noticed the instant she winced as she put pressure on her foot. "Here, I'll just carry you on my back," he said. It wouldn't be a problem since he left his pack at the campsite.

"Are you sure?" Suki blushed, she was kind of embarrassed from nearly tripping.

Itachi just turned around and lifted her onto his back effortlessly. "Not a problem!" he smiled and started walking. "Just hold onto that flag," he said and she nodded.

It wasn't long until they started talking. He told her about how he was planning to move in with his cousin, Shisui, after graduation so he wouldn't be with his father all of the time once he starts working for him in the Uchiha police.

"Do you know why your father hates me?" Suki asked.

"He doesn't hate you," Itachi told her.

"Do you know that for a fact?"

"Well no, but he approved of you before," Itachi said.

"Then why doesn't want us to be together?"

"I don't know, but all you have to know Suki, is that I'm willing to risk harsh punishment from him if means I might get the chance to find out if this is love," he smiled at her over his shoulder for a moment before looking at in front of him to watch his footing.

Suki blushed at that thought. Love. She certainly hoped that's what this was. He sure seemed willing to go through a lot to try to find out though. She could do the same for him.

The rest of the survival hiking trip was very uneventful. They had met up with Sasori and Raven at the campsite and since they had both the blue and red flags, they had a quick lunch and got home by dark. The check in was very brief, but Itachi was going to make sure Suki got home alright and Raven walked with Sasori, saying bye to him as they passed his house and she continued on to her apartment.

The moment Sasori had opened the door, he was met by his grandmother. "Sasori, you need a girlfriend!" Chiyo demanded.

Sasori's eye twitch. "Didn't I tell you? I have a girlfriend!" he shouted.

"I don't believe you," she said folded her arms over her chest.

"Well you know what? I can prove it this time," he said and ran back out and came back seconds later with Raven in tow. "See, her."

"Sasori, you shouldn't be a creep and grab some random girl off the street," Chiyo scolded.

"What?" Sasori shouted. "She really is my girlfriend, official for a over a month now."

"Prove it," Chiyo said, knowing there was really no way to prove something like that. Then Sasori shocked both of them by kissing Raven right there.

"See? She's my girlfriend or otherwise I would never do that," Sasori said.

"Hurm… guess it must be true, why didn't you just say so?"

"Grah! I did!"

"I don't believe you," Chiyo said. Sasori was fed up so he dropped his head against the wall in frustration. Then he dragged his feet on his way to his room. As soon as he closed his door, Chiyo burst out laughing, surprising Raven who was still there. "Don't worry, I just like messing with him," she laughed. "I've known for a while, but I don't really care if he has a girlfriend or not, as long as he's happy, I just know it bugs him to keep asking."

Raven laughed softly. "I see," she said slightly amused that someone could get such kicks out of their grandson. "Well good night," she said and waved goodbye so she could continue heading home.

This was probably the best survival hiking trip any of them experienced. Not only did they pass and get the flags before they had to head back, but they had a great time too. Really, that's exactly what they had hoped for.


	12. The Future's Uncertainties

Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 12: The Future's Uncertainties

With just one more month until graduation, it was now so close they could almost taste it. Soon they would leave school forever and be done with it. All that was left was to put the final touches on their senior projects so they would be ready for presentation day, and then finish up their classes.

Everyone was very busy lately with their projects, schoolwork, job searching, paid missions, living plans, after school activities, friends, and relationships on top of home life. Friends and relationships were currently taking a back seat on the list of priorities for most people. As long as they were able to eat lunch together at school, it was fine with everything else going on, since this busy time was only temporary.

"You know something I noticed recently?" Raven started as she and Suki walked to their usual lunch spot where the guys would be.

"What?" Suki asked.

"Sasori always visits my place when I plan on making something good for dinner," Raven said. "It's happened so often that now he thinks I always cook and make good meals for myself, when in reality I'm eating instant noodles more often then I actually cook just because of the expense."

"You know what? Itachi comes over every time I bake too," Suki said thinking. "Whenever I make cookies, cupcakes, pie or anything else, I get a knock at my door and there's Itachi, and now he thinks I bake all the time because I always have freshly baked goodies when he drops by."

Both the girls laughed as they thought about it. "They must have some sort of mental radar telling them when we're making something good and that they should come over," Raven chuckled.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Suki laughed.

Meanwhile, Itachi was talking to his friends as they waited for their girls to arrive. "Of course, I want to take out Suki again, but we're still hiding that we are seeing each other, so it's not like we get any time alone together either," Itachi explained.

"What about a group date? Would that look suspicious?" Kisame suggested. "You and Sasori could take your girls out together and it could look like just any other outing," he added.

"Would probably still look suspicious if my father knew she would be there in general, but at this point I should at least do something date-like with her, because I can tell she's not exactly happy with what we're having to do. I'm not either," Itachi said.

"Well now that senior projects are all but done, we have the time to do something like that," Sasori said. "I just have to talk to Raven, but since she's Suki's best friend and all, I'm sure they'd be up for it."

"Up for what?" Suki asked as the girls stepped up and caught part of what Sasori said.

Itachi quickly turned to face her. "We were considering taking you girls on a double date," Itachi said and Sasori nodded. Sasori didn't actually care, but he figured this plan could actually help him gain more points with Raven, so he was going along with it. He was much more comfortable with a night in than a night out.

"That sounds like fun, do you think it'll be okay?" Suki asked referring their situation.

Itachi merely shrugged before responding. "It'll be fine," he said, not wanting her to worry about it.

"Presentations are tomorrow morning, how about we go out tomorrow night?" Sasori suggested.

Raven nodded in response, she could guess why this was coming up all of a sudden. But a part of her did admit to herself that it sounded pleasant.

"Sure, works for me," Suki smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, that should work," Itachi said and looked at both of the girls. "Sasori and I will work out the details, so tomorrow after presentations we'll let you know what the plan is and you'll have time to get ready for that," he said.

"Sure thing," Suki smiled, already excited for it. It was nice to have something like that to look forward to after the stressful presentation.

By late afternoon the very next day, senior projects were officially over and the grades being processed, and it was time to get ready for their outing. Seems Itachi and Sasori decided on a modest yet still classy restaurant. Just not too fancy, but still nice enough to have to dress better for. The guys wore plain button down shirts with their usual black pants. Sasori's shirt was a very dark maroon color with a little scorpion on the collar and Itachi's shirt was black with the Uchiha insignia on the back. Suki wore a knee length purple dress with a white sweater that she left unbuttoned along with a pretty necklace and her hair done up in a high ponytail with a loose lock hanging freely on each side of her face. Raven wore black pants and a dark red Chinese style top and had her hair in an interesting bun with patterned chopsticks.

As they walked towards the restaurant, the guys told them about why they chose that location. The reason simply being that the fried shrimp was being promoted at a low price for a short time. Itachi had offered his arm to Suki when they had begun walking, and for some reason Sasori felt the need to do the same to Raven just because Itachi was doing it.

"What else do they serve?" Suki asked, clearly not interested in the shrimp.

"The menu is fairly complete with a wide range of Asian food," Itachi explained. "Feel free to get anything you like, it's on me," he added with a charming smile.

"Hmm, guess I'll just have to wait and see what's on the menu," Suki said with her finger to her lips as she thought about what she might like to get.

"Do you know how much they serve, like is it a lot?" Raven asked, worried about the portions sizes, she doesnt like it when given a ton of food that she can't finish in one sitting.

"They're pretty normal actually," Sasori said. "One of the reasons we chose to take you there, that way we'll have room for dessert," he nodded and Raven laughed softly.

When they got to the restaurant, Sasori opened the door for them and let them enter first. Itachi noticed this and thought he should be even more polite so he can impress Suki by being the better date. With that in mind, he sped ahead to the next door inside and opened it for them.

As Sasori was about to step through he stopped and pinned Itachi with a stare. Sasori could see what Itachi was up to, and he didn't want to be upstaged or outdone either. That meant it was on and a silent competition had started between them to decide who was the better date.

"Guys?" Raven said to get their attention.

"Let's go, they have a table ready," Suki said and the guys quickly returned their attentions to their dates.

The guys raced to see who could pull out the chair for their date faster, only to tie and the girls looked at them weird before thanking them and taking their seats.

"I like what you did with your hair today," Itachi complimented Suki with a charming and polite smile.

"Thanks," Suki smiled before picking up her menu and began scanning the contents.

Raven was already looking at the menu and wasn't paying much attention, but Sasori had glared at the Uchiha who smirked arrogantly in return for beating Sasori to the charming compliment line. They can't just copy each other all night, or else the girls would notice, so Sasori would have to think harder to beat Itachi. Until he could think of something, he too looked at his menu and tried to decide what he was going to get before the order would be taken.

They got their drinks and ordered their food when Sasori thought of something. As soon as Raven's hand came up to moved her napkin closer to herself, he put his hand on top of hers, getting her attention and making her look at him. He leaned in close so he could whisper in her ear. "That top is very flattering, I love it when you wear red, too bad we're not alone right now," he whispered lowly.

Raven instantly blushed and turned away. "Oh stop," she said while trying to hide a shy smile. Sasori leaned back to his chair with his own arrogant smirk, silently challenging Itachi to beat that.

Itachi knew what his next move would be, he just had to wait for when the food served. When it came he used the classic simple move of offering Suki to try something from his own plate. When she agreed, he fed it to her himself, making her blush as they finished.

Sasori rolled his eyes at the other couple. He still wasn't fond of public displays and that was just cheesy.

The rest of the meal proceeded normally with them chatting about various things and enjoying themselves. They even got dessert without any competitions. Then the check came.

Both Itachi and Sasori put their hand on it at the same time and then glared at each other. To them, whoever paid the bill won and was automatically more manly and the better date.

The girls noticed right away that both the guys wanted to take care of the check. "Neither one of you have to take care of it," Raven said.

"Yeah, we can just pay for ourselves," Suki added.

"No!" Itachi and Sasori nearly shouted at the same time and then continued their stare down over the check.

They both saw that neither was letting up so they would have to come to some sort of an agreement. "Look, how about we split it?" Sasori said.

"I'll take care of me and my date," Itachi said.

"And I'll pay for ours," Sasori nodded.

Both girls sighed as the truce was made since they were worried that they might end up battling right there. The guys even split the tip evenly so the girls didn't have to pay at all. It was a nice change since it seemed like they cook and bake for them all the time.

"That was really good," Suki said as the left.

"It was," Raven agreed.

"Sorry to cut things short, but I've got to go somewhere and it's not in the direction of your place," Itachi said.

"Same here, so we'll have to say goodbye now instead of walking you home," Sasori said.

"Alright, be safe," Suki said as she gave Itachi a quick hug and a kiss.

Sasori had simply hugged Raven and was about to part when he saw the other couple kissing, so he tried to do the same, but Raven turned away bashfully. Even though neither liked public displays, he didn't like being denied either and his need to win this unofficial competition of his seemed important enough to put aside that dislike. It appeared that she didn't feel the same, but while he understood that she doesn't know about the competition of who is a better date and ultimately a better boyfriend, it still hurt to be denied like that.

Frowning, Sasori stepped away. "See ya," he said simply and leapt off into the darkness. Itachi followed suit after his own quick farewell.

The guys hadn't had any other plans other than dinner until after the presentations earlier that day. They were simply asked to go somewhere as soon as their date ended that evening, and no later. Arriving at the same place, an old shut down small business building that used to be a used book store, they were met by a familiar face appearing out of the shadows.

"You arrived earlier than I expected," Pain greeted both of them.

"You said it was important," Sasori said. He hates to keep people waiting after all.

Pain nodded and turned towards the building. "It is, please come inside, the others just arrived," he said.

They went inside to find the complete Akatsuki sitting around in a dimly lit space. Itachi and Sasori could tell how serious this meeting was going to be and they both took their rings from their pockets and placed them on their fingers. Itachi placed his red "vermilion" ring on his right ring finger and Sasori placed his purple "jewel" ring on his left thumb.

"You are probably wondering why I suddenly asked everyone here," Pain started. "This concerns the outcome of the Akatsuki. As you know, many of us are graduating this year, and because of that we are going to have an actual base of operations. Here."

"What's 'here'?" Deidara asked while looking around the dark room.

"Konan's new nail salon," Pain answered.

"Eh?" Everyone else said in question.

"Konan is going to run a nail salon and we will use the back room and the basement as our base," Pain explained. "No one will suspect such a place as being the front for an underground organization that tries to maintain peace from the shadows."

The others nodded in understanding and looked to each other for any other comments.

"One more thing," Pain started. "You are all expected to give your business to Konan's shop so we stay in business," he added.

Everyone dropped their heads, they were not looking forward to having to get their nails done all the time just so they can keep this place as a base. That meant that they were going to have to pay. That, or advertise the shop to others until enough money would come in.

"Anything else?" Hidan asked.

"Yes, I want each of you, besides Itachi and Sasori, to keep an eye on Raven and Suki for awhile and monitor their practical skills," Pain said. "I want them to join us if they prove worthy."

The others nodded, but Itachi and Sasori didn't move. They were aware why they were asked not to participate, they would surely have basis in any observation.

"Can I ask why?" Deidara said. "I mean, aren't there enough members?"

Pain nodded in understanding. "Peace doesn't last, there will be an uproar and I believe that they might be of use to this organization, and they already know so much about us through dating a couple of our members," Pain's eyes settles on the red-head and the Uchiha for a moment. "I have made no final decision, that is why I want more information."

As the meeting came to a close and there were no other questions, Kisame volunteered to watch the girls the next day and Hidan volunteered to watch them Monday morning on their way to school.

Kisame was to shadow them if they left their apartments. It ended up being a very boring day for him since not much happened and each of the girls only left their apartments once. He followed Raven towards and from the grocery store and lost sight of her multiple times because she felt like she was being watched and applied evasive maneuvers. The only reason he was able to find her again was because he knew where she was going. Then he followed Suki to and from the bank, which ended up being somewhat difficult because there wasn't much to hide behind and she kept looking around as she sensed his presence.

The morning after that, Hidan had a much more eventful experience. He had gotten up and ready early that morning so he could find where Raven and Suki lived based on the information he was given and then shadow them on their way to school.

Less than halfway to school, Hidan saw a familiar face approach the girls. Kabuto, none other than that slime Orochimaru's right hand man and new leader of Sound since the boss got put behind bars. Not able to hear what was being said, Hidan moved closer.

"So you seem to know who we are, who are you?" Raven inquired dryly. Both she and Suki felt like they knew him from somewhere, but couldn't place his face.

Kabuto smirked and pushed up his glasses. "Who I am is of no concern to you, but do you know who you have been hanging out with?" he asked.

Raven glared and Suki raised an eyebrow. "I'm hanging out with Raven," Suki said obviously.

Kabuto chuckled. "I meant the people you date and their… 'friends' I guess I'll call them," he said.

"You mean the Akatsuki?" Suki asked and Kabuto's face went serious. It was obvious he thought that the girls were still in the dark about it and was hoping to shake them mentally by giving such information himself.

"…Yes," he stated seriously. "Then I should tell you, no, show you the consequences of being affiliated with such people," he said and then snapped his fingers.

Hidan's eyes widened as kunai flew at the girls from all directions. Kabuto planned on attacking all along and was just trying to distract them. Luckily there wasn't any paper bombs attached and all of the kunai knives simply hit the ground as the girls evaded the ambush attack.

Hidan was about to jump out and attack Kabuto, but reminded himself to wait another minute and see what they do. No matter what happened, he was going to report this event back to Pain.

Three black dressed and masked ninja jumped out and joined Kabuto. Seeing that this was going to a dirty fight, the girls dropped their book bags on the ground and prepared to fight.

The masked ninja sped at them with kunai. Raven immediately threw three finger darts and hit the one that was coming at her, making him instantly fall as a heavy sedative poured into him from the darts. Suki also threw a handful of senbons laced with a powerful hallucinogen, making the masked ninja coming straight at her quickly go weak and then become confused before falling to the ground in a dizzy heap.

Both girls looked at each other and then around them to search for the last masked ninja that was just there a moment ago. Both looked up and found him in the air forming a jutsu. Suki quickly pulled out her kunai and prepared to defend while Raven hurriedly formed her own jutsu, quickly making hand signs that she knew very well. With a stern glare directed at their foe, Raven quickly made the last hand sign of the short sequence, beat him in completing a jutsu and put him in genjutsu. From the masked ninja's point of view, the girls suddenly disappears so he landed on the ground and searched for them before finding them trying to flee a short distance away so he ran after what he thought he saw.

Kabuto stood wide eyed with an angry look and pulled out surgical blades like he was going to fight.

"Once more," Raven started.

"Who are you?" Suki demanded.

"Humph, I will be your end," Kabuto said and stepped forward once before suddenly halting as Hidan jumped out in front of him. "You!" Kabuto said shocked.

"You come around here again and I'll fuck you with my scythe, and trust me when I say you won't live after it's shoved up your ass, understand?" Hidan said and Kabuto just glared. "I mean it, get the fuck outta here!" Hidan added and thrust his scythe at him threateningly. Before jumping out to help, he used a summoning scroll to get his scythe. While he thought the girls might be able to handle Kabuto if they're lucky, he wasn't going to risk being the one responsible if he let them die by Sound hands.

Kabuto looked around, weighing his options. Once again he was greatly outnumbered, and he wasn't going to risk being outclassed either. "Humph," he grunted and put his hands together in a symbol. "You win this time," he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Damn annoying motherfucker," Hidan cursed as he rested his scythe against his shoulder. He spat on the ground where Kabuto had been standing before turning to the girls who were already putting their book bags back on. "That Kabuto is always trying to give us a hard time, you weren't supposed to be involved," he added and noticed when both girls shared a glance at the mention of Kabuto's name. "You okay?" he asked casually.

"Fine," Raven said.

"Yeah, and we've met him before anyway," Suki said. "I thought it might be him after he took out those weird surgical knives of his, but the name confirms it."

"W-what?" Hidan raised an eyebrow and followed them as they walked towards school again.

"Yeah, he actually went to our middle school for a little while, he was a medical type," Raven explained. Hidan just nodded as he processed that information.

That night, Pain made it official with the Akatsuki. The girls were going to be a part of the Akatsuki after graduation. For now, he would have Itachi and Sasori tell them about it and find out if they'll agree to it. Pain also wanted to make sure that those couples planned to stay together after graduation. So far it was looking good, but after graduation is when it would count. He could use Raven's skills in long distance projectile weapons and interrogation. Pain also believed that Suki could relay information to the Akatsuki from the classified information office. Both skills seemed like they could be useful for the unknown future.

Most of all, Raven and Suki were already associated with the Akatsuki, not just because they were dating members, but because of what Hidan had witnessed with Kabuto, so now they were involved in the Akatsuki's battles. If they are going to be fighting for the Akatsuki, they might as well know what they're up against and what they are fighting for.

Other than having another meeting at the nail salon "base" and finding out that Pain wants the girls to join the Akatsuki, Itachi didn't have to do anything else after school so he simply went home. Since senior projects were over and he was almost done with high school, he could feel the stress being lifted from his shoulders.

As soon as Itachi stepped through the door, he saw his father waiting for him with a stern expression and his arms folded over his chest. "Something wrong, Father?" Itachi asked.

"Is meeting with people you shouldn't behind my back a new hobby of yours, Itachi?" Fugaku questioned harshly.

Itachi's eyes widened a fraction as his father's words hit him. He knew that he would have to tell his father that he was seeing Suki again sometime, but it appeared that his father already found out.

"You've been up to no good," Fugaku accused.

"We haven't been doing anything," Itachi tried, though he felt that kind of information wasn't his father's business or concern. With that Itachi tried to leave the entryway so he could go to his room and start some homework.

"They're hooligans and up to no good!" Fugaku stopped him. "You are the heir to this clan, you cannot affiliate yourself with such people!"

Itachi realized that his father was not talking about Suki and his heart raced. This was much worse than he thought. His father found out about the Akatsuki. "They are not breaking the law, you know that as well as I do," Itachi said. Training to be in the family police force taught him that much.

Fugaku glared and Itachi knew that his father was at the end of the line on patents and restraint, one more comment like that and Itachi's face will meet the back of his father's hand. When it seemed like his father had nothing else to say, Itachi started to walk away again.

"Have you thought about the image you're portraying to Sasuke?" Fugaku stopped him again.

"What does Sasuke have to do wi-?" Itachi's words died on his lips as he saw Sasuke enter from outside. Itachi instantly noticed that Sasuke had been training very hard. His hair disheveled more than usual, white shorts turned gray and brown with green grass stains, and several small tears in his shirt and arm covers. There didn't appear to be any bruising, but his hands were scrapped and worn raw. Itachi recognized such a workout and was all too familiar with its intensity.

Sasuke moved slowly as he bent down to remove his shoes and he stumbled on the step of the entryway. Itachi rushed to Sasuke to help him back up. Sasuke looked up with tired, foggy eyes, and just noticed his father and brother.

Itachi watched and then turned a vicious, angry glare at his father. He knew exactly what was happening to Sasuke. The same thing had happened to himself.

Their father was overworking Sasuke just like he had done with Itachi. That meant it was only a matter of time before Sasuke's fate followed Itachi's and he also begins to go blind and gets chakra poisoning and then have to spend a lot of time in the hospital.

"You… you question how I appear to Sasuke? What I make him think?" Itachi started lowly. "I can't believe you would actually make the same mistake twice."

Fugaku dropped his arms to his sides and stepped closer to the brothers. "It was never a mistake, you simply failed," he stated.

"I 'failed'?" Itachi said angrily. "I survived! And if you keep this up, he might not be so lucky! Just look at him!"

"I'm fine," Sasuke interjected and Itachi turned to look at him again. "I misjudged the distance of the step and I'm tired, you don't have to worry about it."

Itachi ignored Sasuke's words as he examined his brother's eyes closely. It only confirmed his suspicions. He knew Sasuke would be fine by morning, but if he continued this, there would be dangerous results. Thinking about this made Itachi's anger begin to boil over. Sure, he could deal with his overbearing father, but once Sasuke was involved, that is where he drew the line.

"Sasuke," Fugaku started and Sasuke looked up at him. "You need to work harder, Itachi was at a much higher level by the time he was your age, you are lagging behind," he said.

That was it, Itachi's line was drawn, and he stood straight again, letting go of his little brother. "Don't you know what you're doing? If the fact you did it to me wasn't bad enough, you think it'll be any better with Sasuke?" Itachi raised his voice.

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" Fugaku yelled back.

Fugaku and Itachi continued to argue over Sasuke. Sasuke was so tired, he was barely aware of what was happening and simply dropped his forehead into his hand as he struggled to stay awake.

It was only another long minute before Mikoto came in wondering what all the yelling was about. She had stopped in the doorway, her hand coming over her mouth to keep from making a sound. Mikoto knew that whatever was happening, it was Itachi's last straw. How she wished things could have been different.

"As long as you live under my roof, you must obey me!" Fugaku said activating his Sharingan in anger. Even Mikoto knew that was the wrong thing to say.

Itachi activated his own Sharingan in turn. "Then I can take Sasuke and leave!" Itachi threatened.

"You WILL NOT drag him down with you!" Fugaku ordered. "I will not have another son be a part of a ruthless gang and focusing on some woman instead of his future!" Fugaku added and Itachi glared with clenched fists. "That's right… I know you've been seeing you're little whore again too."

Itachi finally snapped and punched his father in the face, throwing him to the side from the force of the blow. Everyone was shocked, even Itachi. The moment of tense silence after lasted a small eternity.

Fukagu rubbed the quickly forming bruise on the side of his face and glared up at Itachi. "You will pay for that…" he growled.

"I've paid more than enough in advance," Itachi said bitterly. "I'm leaving," he said to his father. He looked at his mother quickly and bowed his head apologetically, knowing this was going to hurt her. Then he leaned down and picked up Sasuke on his back so he could carry him. Sasuke didn't move or protest, he was still too out of it.

With that, Itachi left with nothing but his book bag and Sasuke. He would come back later for some stuff. Fugaku was going to work that night, and knowing his father, he wouldn't miss it.

"Brother?" Sasuke muttered from Itachi's back when Itachi stepped onto the street.

"Yeah?"

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're going to Shisui's to get you patched up," Itachi said. "And I need to talk to him, okay?" he asked and he felt Sasuke nod against his shoulder. Finally not having to focus on the simple task of standing while surrounded by negative energy, Sasuke was finally able to relax and fell asleep in a familiar place. Even though Sasuke was heavier now, Itachi didn't think of it with all the adrenaline still rushing through his veins. He prayed that he didn't just make a horrible rash mistake. It would only be another minute until he reached Shisui's place, and he hoped that his mind would clear a bit before he got there.

Back home, Mikoto was devastated and angry at her husband for chasing off her precious boys. She tried to warn Fugaku, tried to encourage Itachi, and tried to be there for Sasuke. Right now she felt like such a failure as a mother.

Once Fugaku had stood a few seconds after Itachi closed the door behind him, he turned to his wife to say something, but was stopped by a rare vicious look from her.

"What have you done?" Mikoto asked quietly.

"It's for their own good," Fugaku defended.

"What have you done! They're both gone because of you!" Mikoto practically screamed at him before turning around so she wouldn't have to look at him as tears filled her eyes. "I'm not speaking to you until you fix this," she whispered vehemently and then left him in the entryway.

Fugaku lowered his head to one of his hands. No one seemed to understand. When he thought about it, he didn't seem to understand what he was trying to do in the first place anymore either.

Mikoto returned to her chores, hoping that after Fugaku left for work, Itachi and Sasuke would return. She would try to convince them to stay if they made their presence known. Somehow she already knew that all this was going to take a while to resolve.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Oh dear, the drama... but I think that's the last of the worst of it with one more chapter to go.

Hope you liked the double date at the beginning of this chapter. Then Raven and Suki got to beat up Kabuto's minions. And Itachi snapped once his precious little brother was involved. He's still going to have to get his nails done at Konan's new shop once it starts up...


	13. Only the Beginning

Konoha-Suna Union High School  
>AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC<p>

Chapter 13: Only the Beginning

_The Last Chapter_

Two days quickly went by and Itachi and Sasuke continued to go to school. Sasuke did not mention to his friends that he had gone with his brother to stay with Shisui until things cooled down. Itachi did let some of his friends know, including his girlfriend, so then the rest of the group heard about it from them. Itachi made it very clear to Suki that they no longer had to hide their relationship. Though she was concerned about his home life, it was the happiest she had been with him in a long time. They spent a lot of time together without any worry. To cheer him up after finding out about the ordeal, she baked him some muffins.

Shisui was currently using his status and influence in the clan to do something about the ordeal. That included going back to the family's police station to talk to his cousins and uncles directly. They knew that something had happened. Many of the neighbors could hear the fight because of how loud they were yelling in their entryway, but it wasn't until Mikoto's yelling voice was heard that concern had risen. Fugaku was going to get lectured by every member of the family and his reputation was going to decrease dramatically if some changes weren't made.

By the time the weekend came, Itachi still hadn't seen or heard from his father. He did get daily visits from his mother though. She took Sasuke home Friday after school and told them that their father was working all weekend so he wouldn't be home much anyway. She thought it would be good to faze them back in after what had happened. Before leaving, she did tell Itachi that Fugaku had been thinking about him and was worried. Itachi had just nodded and didn't say anything else about the subject before seeing off his mother and brother.

Being home alone after that since Shisui was on a date, Itachi decided that it would be a good time to go visit his own girlfriend. Not being in the mood to do any weekend homework so early, no brother to bother him, and being alone in someone else's home made things quite boring. He took his book bag with him, since his wallet and keys were already in it.

After a short walk, Itachi stepped onto the pathway leading to Suki's apartment, and passed Sasori and Raven as they were leaving hand in hand. They simply said a quick hello to each other before continuing on their way.

Stepping up to the door, Itachi knocked and then waited a few seconds before knocking again and stepping back to turn and look at the street until Suki got to the door.

"Hey!" Suki greeted as she opened the door. "Popping in again while I'm baking? You must have a sixth sense for it," she said with a hand on her hip and he tilted his head to the side.

"You just bake a lot."

"It would seem that way to you, but every time I bake, you show up."

"Oh really?" he said confused. "Sorry, it's just a coincidence."

"It's fine, really, just funny," she said and stepped aside to let him in.

"I just saw Sasori and Raven leave," Itachi stated.

"Yeah, she mentioned that they were going to get some sort of cream pie from someplace," Suki said.

"Cream pie?"

"Yeah, Raven said it's a limited time special and she said she wanted to get one."

"Ah," Itachi nodded as he looked into the kitchen. "What are you making?"

"More muffins for breakfast this week," Suki answered. "So how's Shisui?"

"Good, he's out with his girlfriend today so I thought I'd come visit you too," Itachi said.

"Didn't you want some alone time?"

"Nah, I get thinking too much when I'm by myself. A lot has happened over that last few years and I'd rather not dread over what's going on this time either," he explained.

"So there's no word from your father?" Suki asked sadly.

"Well, sort of," Itachi said while scratching the back of his head. "My mom mentioned that he's worried, but I'm not sure if that's true."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, he's just not the worrying type, unless is concerns the family reputation."

"So he cares about family, but he doesn't care about family at the same time? I'm confused," Suki said.

"So am I," Itachi muttered as he took a seat on the couch and directed his attention to the television that was already on. Suki watched as he searched for the remote to turn on the volume and begin watching. Since he didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore, she went back to cleaning up the mess she made while the muffins sat in the oven. The kitchen isn't that big so cleaning up now would make space to take out the muffins when they are done shortly.

Itachi could hear her moving about the kitchen and he got kind of homesick. Hearing the sink and softly clattering dishes reminded him of his mother at home. While he doubted his father's feelings, Itachi knew for fact that all of this was causing great pain to his mother. She was surely worried every day.

"My mom took Sasuke home today," Itachi said suddenly.

"Is that good?" Suki asked.

"Yeah, for both of them," he answered.

"Your parents?"

Itachi turned around on the couch to face Suki and she was looking at him from the other side of the snack bar. "Good for my mom and Sasuke," Itachi corrected and Suki nodded.

"You think it'll be okay?"

"I don't know what to think… well… I dunno…" Itachi said with a casual wave of his hand and quickly turned back around. Suki noticed that he had been doing that a lot lately. It was like he wanted to say something but would stop himself.

"What is it?" she urged.

Itachi sighed and turned to face her again. "It's just ridiculous, how can someone make the same mistake twice like that? Once I understand, I even forgave my father long ago, because I understood that he thought he was doing a good thing, but I cannot forgive him for trying to put Sasuke through the same treatment." Itachi then stood and began to pace the living room. "I almost went blind and then the chakra poisoning started."

"You got better," Suki reminded. It sounded like Itachi was still bitter about it.

"I know, but Sasuke might not be so lucky… I wouldn't be able to bare if he… if something happened to him," Itachi admitted.

"It's okay to be scared," Suki reminded.

Itachi scoffed for a moment before looking down, admitting to himself that he wasn't just scared, but terrified. No one can hurt his little brother and get away with it if he had anything to say about it. "I know," he finally said. He was about to say something else, but then oven timer for the muffins sounded and Suki returned to her task quickly.

Once the muffins were set out to cool, Suki sat on the couch while Itachi stared out the window thinking. Suki couldn't help but remember how Itachi had said he didn't want to think about it when he had arrived. Guess it was inevitable to think about it when it was such a prominent part of his life right now.

For now, she would just sit in silence with him. That seemed to be what he wanted right now, just to be near her.

Meanwhile, Sasori and Raven were getting their cream pie. The place was small and quaint so they took a seat in a booth next to a window while they waited for their pies. They were getting a chocolate cream and a strawberry cream pie.

In the seat across from Sasori, Raven rocked from side to side in happy anticipation. Sasori just smiled as he watched her for a moment and then looked out the window. When he felt a tap on his foot he looked at Raven again to find her smiling at him.

"Pie," she stated briefly with a goofy smile.

"Yes, we're getting pie," he chuckled.

"Cream pie," she nodded.

He just chuckled again softly and nodded once before putting his elbow on the table to support his chin on his hand.

"What?" she said and blushed slightly as he stared at her.

"Nothing," he said. Sasori was thinking about how weird she can be sometimes. He had learned that she has some interesting quirks, but he didn't mind any of them. Despite seeming serious and dull when they first met, she could act like a kid sometimes too. He was glad that he took the time to get to know her, or otherwise he would have never got past the first barrier and found out how much more there was to her. It was nice to be able to open up to her as well. He had very few close friends in his lifetime, he was glad that she became one of them, and that she became his girlfriend.

Still thinking, he put his other hand on the table to rest over both of hers which were folded neatly in front of her. He simply wanted to touch her, but not in an overly affectionate way with so many people able to see them. This simple touch of their hands was enough. He noticed Raven blush and look down. At first he thought she was being bashful, as she is usually is, but then he noticed how her smile faded. Was she embarrassed?

"Fine," he said curtly and snatched his hand away. "Sorry, I didn't think that would bother you."

His sudden attitude quickly soured her own mood. "What?" she stated.

"Nothing, forget it," Sasori crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat. "Are those pies ready yet?" he asked quickly.

"Should be shortly," she answered in a serious tone.

This wasn't the first time they had this kind of tension, but it was certainly the most obvious. Sometimes they can go from being close to distant in an instant when something was taken sensitively. As a couple they didn't have many problems, but when there was times like this that should be addressed, they avoided talking about it. It's something that only bothers them when it is happening, which is often, but not often enough to get irritating.

There was a set of taps on the window so they both looked up to find Deidara and Tobi making faces at them through and against the glass. They were just being idiots. When they stopped making stupid faces for a moment they waved and laughed, but went back to making faces.

Sasori's palm slowly met his forehead. Sometimes he was embarrassed to even know those guys.

When Deidara and Tobi pressed their faces to the glass again, Raven hit the glass at their faces, making them jump back. Sasori sniggered at them openly as their pies came. Already paid for and bagged, Raven took the pies and left with Sasori following close behind.

They saw Deidara and Tobi run off so they wouldn't get yelled at or even attacked by Sasori and Raven.

"Idiots," both Sasori and Raven said as the younger guys disappeared down the street.

Sasori shook his head at his friends before stepping up next to Raven and taking her hand once again. "Come, we can still go to my place for bit," he said and Raven nodded.

As they walked, a few guys from school passed them. The guys were laughing and talking. One of them was a rather popular guy, did well in school and on missions, and had a reputation with the ladies. Sasori remembered that and gripped Raven's hand tighter.

To her, it was rather sudden and her first reaction was pull her hand away. That only irritated Sasori who threw her a look. Raven simply ignored his silent complaint and continued walking with him. She noticed that this wasn't the first time he had done that and nearly crushed her hand when another guy their age was around. It was obnoxious and she was done with it.

Raven held her tongue until they reached his house. Sasori called for his grandmother, but she wasn't home. After Raven set down the pies on the table, she quickly turned and pinned Sasori with a look.

He'd seen that look before and recognized that it meant she was fed up with something. This was the first time he'd been on the receiving end of that look, and he decided he didn't like it at all.

"What was that back there?" Raven questioned. "When those guys from school passed us?"

"What?" he said looking away.

Raven knew that he knew exactly what she was talking about. She really hated the playing dumb act people would try. "Were you just trying to crush my hand?"

"No!" Sasori defended as he met her gaze. "One of those guys is a certain type that I don't like."

"So hurting me helps?"

"No! That's not what I was trying to do at all!" Sasori said, nearly horrified at the thought of being responsible for hurting her. "I was just…" he trailed off thinking.

"…Jealous?" she suggested.

"…No," he muttered.

"Then what is it?" Raven said. "I'd like to know." she added.

"It's nothing okay? I don't know…" he trailed off thinking. "You never want to touch at all in public places and ever since I heard you agree with Suki that Itachi's… you know, I keep thinking that you're looking at other people."

"First of all, I'm just shy, you know that. And second, you mean you think I'm checking out other guys?" Raven said. "Trust me, I try not to look even that time with Itachi and Suki. What was I supposed to say to my best friend she asked? 'No Suki, I don't find your choice of a boyfriend attractive at all', or something along those lines just because you were around. I was just going along with it to make her feel good, I bet she wasn't even expecting a real answer anyway."

"You still agreed with her," Sasori pointed out.

"Did I now?" Raven started. "If you remember correctly, I didn't agree or disagree, I believe my words were, 'hard to say otherwise,' or something," she said. "Please Sasori, you don't have to be jealous, I'm not going anywhere," she added.

"I'm not jealous, just… thinking about you with anyone else makes me angry," he admitted.

"That's what jealously is, Sasori," she said. "Itachi, Hidan, Deidara, and any other semi-attractive male our age even if they're near-strangers seems to put you is some sort of jealous state, the scorpion in you does that," Raven observed.

"Does not, I-"

"Let me finish," she cut him off, "I also don't need you to protect me from other men, it's not like they're interested in me and I'm not interested in them either."

"I know," he said. He could hardly believe that he was allowing himself to be lectured like this. It's those stupid feelings of his.

"You sure don't act like it, and I would like you to stop it," she said. Sasori growled and folded his arms over his chest as he looked away with a pout. He was silently admitting that he was indeed jealous. "There is no need for you to feel threatened by other guys, because I only love you and I sure as hell can take care of myself, so all I ask is that you vent your aggression and jealousy in a more productive way if you can't understand that," she finished.

"What?" Sasori said in shock. All of his jealously suddenly melted away, as well as the worry and doubt that haunted him from time to time.

"You're going to have to be a little more specific…" Raven sighed. Seriously, she had said a lot for a change and had no idea which part he was confused about.

"You love me?" he questioned as his features slowly lit up and big smile came to his face.

"Uh! Well… I didn't mean to say that part…" she said tensely as her face turned crimson.

Sasori dropped his smile to a very smug smirk and came closer her to her. "Sure," he said as he closed the distance between them. Raven wanted to step back, but found the table was behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her close. "Sure, I can do that…" he answered what she had asked earlier before planting a small kiss to her cheek next to her lips, "…my love," he grinned.

"S-Sasori, I should probably-" she tried to pull away.

"You love me," he said smug and delighted. He wasn't about to let her go so easily so he drew her close again. "And you know what?" he said with a smile. "I love you too," he said simply.

"Really?" Raven asked both doubtfully and sarcastically. For some reason, that just didn't seem possible.

"Really," he nodded. "Though I'm surprised you didn't figure that out," he said. "All the clues were there, I wouldn't get jealous because of just anyone," he then sniggered. "Guess you can't be smart about everything."

Raven pouted and blushed madly at the same time. "Don't make fun of me, you didn't pick up on my clues either!"

Sasori shrugged. "Oh well," he said. "That's what happens when we don't talk about that stuff."

"We did talk about it, just now," she said, thinking that he was implying that someone was at fault. It was simply a slow paced relationship, and they were fine with that pace.

Sasori sniggered once again, "I know," he said. "And now I'm through talking about it, because now I know," he said. "And you know it now too."

They didn't say anything else. Even they knew that was their cue to kiss. His hands came up to hold part of her face and neck so he could control the kiss and keep her from getting away. He didn't want it to stop any time soon so he kept deepening it. Her hands simply rested on his shoulders, but she didn't try to move from him.

When he pulled away, he looked at her. "Guess we should stop, my grandmother could come in at any time," he whispered. Getting caught was one of his worst fears.

"And we have pie," Raven added.

Sasori laughed aloud at that. "Yes, there's pie, that's the real important thing!"

Back at Suki's apartment, Itachi was still in her silent company. He had sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders to pull her closer. She had complied and even cuddled up to him as they watched the television for a bit. The weather was going to be getting even warmer soon.

"Suki, I'm sorry," Itachi muttered softly.

She barely heard him and looked up to meet his eyes. "What? Why? You haven't done anything wrong."

"Suki, I know it must be hard to have to listen to me talk about my problems, you must not be happy with me at all," he said with a hint of bitterness towards himself.

"As long as we're together, of course I'm happy with you," Suki said. "Everyone has problems."

Itachi let go of her and stood from his seat to move closer to the window. "But there's been so much trying to come between us, and I don't want you to get hurt," he said.

Suki also stood and took a single step towards him. "It's just your father not liking me," Suki said. "It's not so bad, I'm sure others have had it harder."

"I've told you before that he did like you, approved and everything at first, but then he got weird," Itachi said as he lifted a hand to his forehead. He had tried time and time again to understand what happened and still can't make sense of it.

"I was fine keeping our relationship a secret for awhile until you figure it out," Suki tried to console him. Secrecy certainly wasn't her ideal situation, but she didn't mind it. It was actually kind of fun sometimes. "Maybe you could bargain with him, you do something for him and he let you date whoever you want," she suggested.

Itachi didn't like the thought of having to resort to that. "Can't I just be with the person I love?" he exclaimed. "It's not too much to ask for, is it? No, I shouldn't have to ask, it's my choice," Itachi turned and looked at Suki who was blushing madly. Itachi just rose an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"You just said you love me," Suki said and Itachi's eyes widened in horror.

"Ahhh…" Itachi turned away from her again, mostly to hide his own reddening face. Though it was true, he didn't mean to say that, not right now at least. Really, he planned to tell her during a more romantic scene that didn't involve discussing family issues. Hardening his resolve, he figured he might as well come out with it. "You heard me," he said, still not facing her.

"…Itachi," she said quietly.

This was it for him. He knew it was too early to reveal that. Slowly, he turned around to face her so he could face rejection like a man.

To his surprise she was already throwing herself into him and wrapping her arms around him. "Suki? What are you…?"

"Don't be embarrassed, because that made me happy," she interrupted. "I was beginning to think that my feelings may be unrequited… you seemed so unsure of everything."

"So you mean that you…" Itachi trailed off as his heart swelled.

Suki let go of him just enough to look up at him and nod. "Yeah, I love you too," she smiled. "Couldn't you tell?" she added with a short laugh.

Itachi's face settled into a pleased, relaxed expression as he smiled at her softly. Without saying anything, he put his arms around her too and pulled her in tightly. He felt like an idiot, but he was so happy in this moment, he didn't want it to end. Being here with her, he would prolong it as much as he could.

It was a while before Itachi left his girlfriend's apartment. After what happened, they found themselves making out on the sofa for a long time. Several repeated affections were exchanged, igniting the spark once again and by the time Itachi found enough awareness outside their own little world to see the time, he reluctantly said he had to get going. He had to find his shirt first, and he wasn't even sure how long it was off. Not that it would matter much when he got back to Shisui's empty apartment, where he jumped into a cold shower.

Over the weekend, the girls told each other what happened that night. Raven was still embarrassed about it, but was quickly getting over it and accepting that it happened. Suki was still ecstatic and was already planning their weddings.

"Oh, oh it can be a double wedding!" Suki exclaimed and jumped up with a grin.

Raven's eyes shot wide at the thought of marriage, but she laughed at her friend's antics. Both couples had barely gotten to second base, so Raven wasn't even thinking that far ahead yet. In fact, her thoughts were on whether their relationships would last once they graduate high school. Truthfully, she hoped so.

"I want to feel like a princess! With the dress and the hair…" Suki continued. "And of course, my Prince Charming, Itachi!"

Raven laughed. She wondered what she would call Sasori. Certainly not Prince Charming. He was just too weird for a title like that. Though she was weird too. Maybe that's why they worked well together. Raven laughed and shook her head at that thought.

Suki wasn't seriously thinking about the wedding yet, but it was fun to play around with the idea. For as long as she's had a crush on Itachi, to end up dating him and then to go as far as confessing their love for each other was something she could only dream about a mere six months ago. Now she just wished that things would work out in his home life so he could be even happier.

Later in the week, Itachi went to the Uchiha Police Station with Shisui to see what missions might be available for them. Since Shisui was still a student-teacher, he wouldn't be a fulltime teacher until next year, he was always low on cash and had bills to pay. So his trips to the Mission's Office, the Hokage, and the Police Station were somewhat frequent.

They approached the main desk to find their cousin Nina working that night. Nina was only a year older than Itachi, but younger than Shisui. She had straight black hair and was petite, but since she was sitting behind the desk, it was hard to tell how short she actually was.

"Good evening, Nina," Shisui greeted with a warm smile.

"Oh, hello Shisui, Itachi," she smiled back. "Back for more missions?"

"That's right," Shisui said leaning on the desk a bit. "How are things going with that new boyfriend I keep hearing about?"

Nina blushed. "Um, well pretty good I think," she fidgeted.

"That's good to hear," Shisui said. "Just remember what I said last time about that one jerk, he does anything, and I mean anything to hurt you, you let your older cousin know and I will kick his ass for you," he grinned.

"I can take care of myself you know," Nina huffed, only making Shisui laugh. While Nina was strong like the rest of the Uchiha and processed the Sharingan as well, she wasn't that intimidating, mostly due to her small form.

"So what do you have for us?" Shisui asked.

"Oh right," she said and quickly shuffled some papers. "Um well… Itachi," she started, "Fugaku would like to speak to you and… he's here," she said carefully. Nina didn't know what exactly happened, only what the little that Shusui had shared, but she was smart enough to see that it was a touchy subject. The entire clan gossiped about it, and from what she had heard, the clan was not happy with Fugaku. She just hoped Sasuke was okay, being caught in the middle.

"He's here?" Itachi questioned. "I thought he wasn't working tonight."

"Well, he changed shifts hoping that he'd be able to catch you when you were ready to see him again."

"When I'm ready? So that's why he hasn't come to see me?" Itachi asked.

Nina nodded. "Yes, and I think you should talk to him," she said. "We all do."

Itachi looked up to find everyone else in the room discreetly watching him. Well, all were discreet besides Obito, who was leaning so far back in his chair to see them from around a wall that he could fall back any second.

Itachi sighed. "Okay, I think it would be a good idea too," he admitted. "Is he in the back?"

Nina nodded and Itachi turned to leave until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked at Shisui who offered him silent encouragement. Itachi nodded once, and then moved down the hall and past many of his family members.

Itachi stopped at the door and took a moment before knocking. "Come in," Fugaku's voice directed from inside.

Itachi opened the door and met his father's eyes and they looked at each other silently for a long second. Both were stoic and firm.

"Itachi," Fugaku finally said. Itachi stepped inside the office and closed the door behind him. This family matter would be kept from the rest of the family.

Shisui and Nina shooed people away near the office door. Then the two talked amongst themselves and Shisui looked at the available missions to pass the time. There was some that he wouldn't be able to do until summer break, since he couldn't miss too many school days to go on a long distance mission.

Shisui had looked at the office door several times as the minutes passed. He really wanted to know what was happening behind that door, but he resisted the urge to activate his Sharingan to find out. It would be over soon enough and he would find out then.

"It'll be fine," Nina assured him as he looked over once again.

"You think so?"

Nina nodded. "Believe me, I know it will."

Shisui waited with Nina a little longer before going to look over at the shift schedules board to pass some time.

Finally, Itachi stepped out completely expressionless. He had been in there for little over twenty minutes. Shisui looked him over and then walked with him outside to leave.

"So?" Shisui asked.

"We agreed to hear each other out, and we both feel like jerks," Itachi explained. Fugaku felt like one for several reasons, and Itachi hadn't really considered Fugaku's thoughts and feelings surrounding his motives and knew that it was wrong to punch him. Shisui was about to ask him to continue before Itachi started again. "I'm moving back home until school ends."

"That's coming up soon," Shisui said.

"I know," Itachi said. "He said he wanted me to stay longer, but I told him I'd think about it, since I was planning on moving out anyway," he explained.

"Well you're always welcome at my place," Shisui smiled and placed his hand on his cousin's shoulder.

"Thanks," Itachi said.

"So all is good now?"

Itachi shook his head. "I guess we're talking now, and I don't have the urge to punch him in the face, that's a good start," he said making Shisui chuckle. "And he said he trusted my decisions, that just about made my brain break," he said and Shisui chuckled again.

Shisui chuckled. "Yeah, about time he trusted in his own and Mikoto's parenting," he said and Itachi nodded.

They walked towards Shisui's place until Itachi suddenly stopped and laughed to himself. Shisui just waited until Itachi was done and then gave him a questioning glance as well as an amused smirk. "Sorry, I just had to get that out, it's not like I'm happy, in fact I feel more relieved than anything else."

"A heavy burden has been lifted from your shoulders. You are going to go home to your mother and brother, you will be welcomed, your father has heard you out, and you know what you are going to do after you graduate until you get a fulltime position," Shisui said, "I think that is enough to be happy about."

"Yeah," Itachi nodded once.

"After you're settled in back at your folk's place, you should go tell Suki," Shisui recommended.

"Sure thing," Itachi said.

Things actually worked out better for Itachi than he had hoped. He could see the relief in his mother and brother's eyes when he returned home later that day. Things became somewhat normal again, though Fugaku was leaving him alone more. They still talked, but usually around the dinner table. It appeared that Fugaku really was trying to trust Itachi more, but still worried according to Mikoto. While they understood each other better now and things looked alright, it would still be some time before they were really comfortable with each other again, if they ever were in the first place. That didn't mean that Fugaku and Itachi completely got along, they would still argue a little. Fugaku really was stepping back from being an instructor and was just being a parent like he'd promised. Doubling as an instructor to his sons didn't seem to work out liked he's hoped anyway.

One change that came up quickly was when Fugaku apologized for calling Itachi's girlfriend a whore, because he had liked her when he got to meet her before during the holidays, and he knew deep inside that she wasn't the problem, but that his own worries got the best of him.

Itachi even had Suki over for dinner again, and she was amazed that she didn't sense any kind of tension at all. To her, there were no signs that all that drama ever happened. If Itachi hadn't told her about it, she wouldn't have had any idea.

But now that things weren't so hectic, Suki did noticed Itachi being more affectionate and inviting her to do more stuff again. One day, he had invited her to a midnight premiere of a movie that she had never heard of and had next to no advertising. Just as he had planned, they were all alone in the theater that night. When asked what the movie was about, she wouldn't be able to answer.

The remaining days of school seemed to drift right by and their last day of high school was upon them. That Thursday wasn't the last day of classes for everyone, just the seniors, because then they need one more day to get ready for graduation. After the senior graduation during the weekend, the rest of the school would still have one more week before the end of the academic year.

Raven and Sasori were in the library for their free period. It was quiet, and it was weird to have nothing to work on and no more due dates, so they just doodled and talked. The entire day had pretty much been a free day. All they had to do was turn in a couple things and take one small test.

"Just when I was starting to like school," Sasori commented, "and it's the last day for us."

"You like school? I'm so glad to be done," Raven scoffed.

"Well not the schooling part, but the company this year has been… better," he said and smiled at her to make his point obvious.

"Oh," she laughed, "I get it."

"Good," he said and pecked her cheek. "Guess this is the last time we'll ever hang out in the library like this."

"Yeah, that's okay though."

"Aren't you going to miss it?"

Raven shrugged, "I dunno, maybe someday," she said. "But I don't really like the library."

Sasori was taken aback for a moment and then laughed. "Is that so? Then why have you been coming here all this time?"

"It's quiet and located nicely in the center of the building so I can get to my next class quickly," she said. "Or maybe it was the company," she added with a smirk.

"I think I'll miss this place a little," Sasori admitted. "After today, this place will still be here, but become a memory too. I mean, a lot happened here in the last six months so…"

"Like how we became friends here?" Raven added.

"Yeah, exactly," he smiled sadly at her. "Guess we'll just have to make new memories in new places," he said with a quick grin.

"Looking forward to it," she nodded.

"Yeah," he said.

Before they left the library to head to their next class for the last time, they each took the luxury to look back. They cast their eyes over the room, from the shelves, to the tables, and the slightly open door to the back room, and finally settling their gazes on their usual table that would no longer be theirs. While they might return one day to visit or give a lecture to one of the classes, this would be the end of the memories created here. This place served as the starting point in their friendship, as well as their relationship, but it was certainly not their foundation.

Sasori took Raven's hand so they could leave after their silent farewells. He placed a quick kiss to her temple just after they exited, and he watched as she blushed and glanced away shyly as they walked. Smiling to himself, he was reassured that even though they would no longer be at KS, or its library, the two of them would still be the same. That certainly put his mind at ease.

Itachi and Suki didn't have to teach or help with anything on their last day of their Into to Sensei class. They got to give a small lecture to team seven and then ask them what they wanted to do. Sasuke was the only one who still wanted to continue training, but everyone else wanted to do something fun.

With the vote being four to one, they played some games. Apparently Sasuke sucked at chance games such as rock-paper-scissors and had to be blindfolded for one game. He was doing fine until Itachi told him to stop using the Sharingan.

Near the end of the class period, they stopped the games and began to give farewells and last bits of advice.

"Hope things work out for you guys next year," Suki said.

"Thanks," Sakura said. "And good luck to both of you as well."

"Hey! Maybe someday we'll end up working together!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Heh, maybe," Itachi humored him.

"Of course, there's a chance I may become Hokage first, and you'll work FOR me instead of with me," Naruto gloated and the others just laughed both at and with him.

"Maybe," Itachi nodded. "Just keep working hard like you have this year, and I may actually believe it."

"Yeah, believe it!" Naruto grinned.

"I am sure I will continue to see all of you somewhat frequently, but I am not going to give any more free lessons," Itachi then chuckled, but he was serious what he said and the others knew that.

"I'm going to head back to the classroom," Sasuke said as he turned to leave. Naruto and Sakura quickly said their final goodbyes to their temporary teachers and hurried to catch up as Itachi and Suki waved.

"Should we head back up as well?" Itachi offered as team seven disappeared inside the building.

"Sure," Suki nodded. Itachi took her hand and led her away.

"Almost done, aren't we?" Itachi mentioned.

"Yeah, and soon we'll be off to a new life," Suki said. "How's the apartment searching?"

"It's been decided that I'll move in with Shisui for a while, as soon as I get a job, even though he's family and my best friend, I should pay rent," Itachi said. "And his price was very generous."

"Does Sasuke know you're moving out again?"

"Yeah, he was a little mad at first, but I think he's getting over it," Itachi said. "Not like I'm going to be far and I'm sure I'll be visiting him often."

"And what about me?" Suki said in mock offense.

Itachi chuckled and put his arm around her as they walked. "Of course I'll visit you, count on it occurring often," he said and pecked her cheek and she giggled softly. "Though I do wonder when there will be a time when you won't be able to get rid of me," he added.

She laughed and elbowed him softly. "And what does that mean?"

"I wonder," he smirked and winked. Suki looked rather surprised as her face started to turn red and she laughed.

"So we are almost done, just a couple hours left," Itachi said as they entered the high school.

"Yep, we'll be saying goodbye forever to this place," Suki said.

"Goodbye or good riddance? I won't be missing this place anytime soon since I will still be with the people I want to be with," he said.

"Well that's good," she said.

"Come here," he said before pulling her close a give her a quick kiss. "There," he said as he pulled away and took her hand. He looked up and saw Sasori and Raven walking together to their next class.

"What was that for?" Suki asked with a blush.

"Just reminding you that I love you, and even though we started out here, we don't need this place to make our relationship last," he smiled.

Suki couldn't help but smile back at him, "You're right about that," she giggled and walked with him to their class.

This was the end of their time at Konoha-Suna Union High, but it wasn't the end for them, or the Akatsuki. Though a couple members still had one more year to go. It's not like they were going to be disconnected from KS forever, it would still be there for some time. Their friends, family, and neighbors would still attend and create their own memories until it was their time to leave as well.

At the end of their graduation, they were all congratulated, certified for officially obtaining Jonin level status, and given brand new black ninja headbands with the Shinobi insignia.

The book of their senior year may be at an end, but the next chapter in their lives was only beginning. They eagerly awaited to see what the next chapter would entail. It was sure to be full of new experiences and trials, but they would face those challenges and continue learning. The future is always a mystery, but one thing was for sure, it would be an adventure.

There were others watching the graduation that day from a distance. Watching the families, friends, and students that got together in celebration. They silently and efficiently recorded who was held dear my their enemy. This information would prove invaluable. Someday the great Itachi Uchiha will know that he cannot see everything with those eyes, and the Puppet Master Sasori would find himself being manipulated instead. They would all perish for what they had done and who they had hurt, every last one of those Akatsuki scum.

One completely cloaked man pushed up his glasses. "The master will be pleased when he hears of this," he commented.

"Why can't we kill them now?" Another cloaked man asked.

"There are nearly a hundred new graduates and many more skilled ninja down there, if we tried to make a move now, we would surely perish instead, the numbers just can't compare." He turned away and was about to leave when he stopped. "Don't forget, record and note everything. We have much planning before we can obliterate the Akatsuki, and it will take much more patience. When the time is right, when they least expect it, they will pay with their lives…"

With malicious intent looming in the distance, well hidden and guarded, not a soul would be the wiser to the danger that was surly to come.

The End.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Yes, this is the end of this story. This chapter was jammed pack with major concluding plot points so it is extra long.

Upon graduating Konoha-Suna Union High, this can no longer be called a high school story. So what does this mean? A sequel.

_**REVIEW**_

_(After taking the time to read over 77,000 words, please take a moment to write a little message below about how you felt.)_

_The sequel has been posted as a separate story, and since linking is banned in fanfics, you may find it on my profile._

Just a bit of information about a sequel: Just like Shippuden, it takes place 3 years later from this story, though what took place during that time would be explained.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. This story was requested by a close friend, but as always, reviews are still helpful.

Until next time.


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